An observation after using Duck Duck Go for the past few months is that IMO it's now equal to Google and in some ways better. I like their location maps better than Google, however I haven't explored what map resource they are using.
What they do lack at the moment are the quick pull down menus explaining aspects of a term you are searching for, or a question, such as "what is the best pain reliever". The Google associated questions and comments from various sources in their top placed menu are helpful and informative without, in many cases, having to search further.
Search Engines
Search Engines
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: Search Engines
Been using DuckDuckGo for about a year now and only go back to Google for News. It is far better and doesn't track your every move. Combine that with a non-tracking browser such as Brave, and the internet is pollution-free and safe to use again!
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
-
handdrummer
- Addict
- Posts: 5389
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:58 am
Re: Search Engines
I've been using DD Go for about 2 yrs., but if I need to look up anything obscure or people who aren't famous, I have to use Google.
Re: Search Engines
I like Brave browser and use it on laptop, with DDG as search engine. DDG also has its own browser for Android though I tend to use Brave on Android as well.
Brave also has its own search engine. Anyone tried it?
Brave also has its own search engine. Anyone tried it?
Re: Search Engines
Disgruntled Googlers search for an alternative
It transformed the way we explore the internet, even becoming a kind of “second brain” for many users.
But 24 years after it was opened to the public, the luminaries of Silicon Valley are questioning whether Google’s search engine is as useful as it once was.
Frustrated by unhelpful results and mountains of adverts, analysts believe that people are changing how they use the world’s most popular search engine, in an effort to access information that comes from “real” people and trustworthy sources.
“Google Search is arguably the most important online tool. For many people, it’s almost like a replacement for one’s memory,” Charlie Warzel, author of the technology letter Galaxy Brain, said. “But in tech circles, and in general circles, there are these emerging complaints that Google Search isn’t as good as it used to be.”
Some of the complaints involve the number of paid-for results that users encounter. Daisuke Wakabayashi, a journalist who covers Google for The New York Times, tweeted this year about how he had tapped the words “hearing aids” into Google Search on a mobile phone for his father.
“I was stunned by the number of ads,” he wrote on Twitter, above a video that showed him scrolling through several screens’ worth of adverts.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c0d0 ... bfbe7f1c7e
Another problem is that these days, content is written for Google, not for people. Websites want to get ranked higher so they can get more traffic and more ad impressions so they tailor their articles for Google, so a lot of what comes up there is just keyword-stuffed digital pollution.
It transformed the way we explore the internet, even becoming a kind of “second brain” for many users.
But 24 years after it was opened to the public, the luminaries of Silicon Valley are questioning whether Google’s search engine is as useful as it once was.
Frustrated by unhelpful results and mountains of adverts, analysts believe that people are changing how they use the world’s most popular search engine, in an effort to access information that comes from “real” people and trustworthy sources.
“Google Search is arguably the most important online tool. For many people, it’s almost like a replacement for one’s memory,” Charlie Warzel, author of the technology letter Galaxy Brain, said. “But in tech circles, and in general circles, there are these emerging complaints that Google Search isn’t as good as it used to be.”
Some of the complaints involve the number of paid-for results that users encounter. Daisuke Wakabayashi, a journalist who covers Google for The New York Times, tweeted this year about how he had tapped the words “hearing aids” into Google Search on a mobile phone for his father.
“I was stunned by the number of ads,” he wrote on Twitter, above a video that showed him scrolling through several screens’ worth of adverts.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c0d0 ... bfbe7f1c7e
Another problem is that these days, content is written for Google, not for people. Websites want to get ranked higher so they can get more traffic and more ad impressions so they tailor their articles for Google, so a lot of what comes up there is just keyword-stuffed digital pollution.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
-
handdrummer
- Addict
- Posts: 5389
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:58 am
Re: Search Engines
i have an adblocker and never see any ads.
Re: Search Engines
Are you sure? Most people have an adblocker these days but still get the ads. Google have become clever, and the ads do not like like the traditional ads these days. They look like normal Google output, but prefixed by 2 letters, Ad
Championship Stoke City 3 - 0 Plymouth Argyle 
Points 48; Position 20
Points 48; Position 20
Re: Search Engines
Ad blockers only stop the popups and display ads which are mostly powered by Javascript. If you search for anything on Google, 40% of what you see will be ads/paid listings - no blocker can filter them out. Likewise with social media though the percentage of ads is higher there.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
-
handdrummer
- Addict
- Posts: 5389
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:58 am
Re: Search Engines
I don't use Google often, actually, haven't used it in months, so I don't know if my adblocker works there or not. It works almost everywhere else, with the exception of newsites.buksida wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 7:33 am Ad blockers only stop the popups and display ads which are mostly powered by Javascript. If you search for anything on Google, 40% of what you see will be ads/paid listings - no blocker can filter them out. Likewise with social media though the percentage of ads is higher there.
Re: Search Engines
It doesn't.
Back to topic, it'd be interesting to have a poll to see how many forum users have now ditched Google for search.
Back to topic, it'd be interesting to have a poll to see how many forum users have now ditched Google for search.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: Search Engines
Just to test this, I've been searching for motorcycle tour options in Himachal Pradesh on both search engines.
Google - first three results are ads, the second three were huge tour conglomerates such as TripAdvisor, last three were actually relevant and close to what I wanted (30% relevance).
DuckDuckGo - first one was an ad, six out of the ten on the first page were relevant to my search, ie local companies offering these trips (60% relevance).
I would imagine this is the same for any search terms entered.
Google - first three results are ads, the second three were huge tour conglomerates such as TripAdvisor, last three were actually relevant and close to what I wanted (30% relevance).
DuckDuckGo - first one was an ad, six out of the ten on the first page were relevant to my search, ie local companies offering these trips (60% relevance).
I would imagine this is the same for any search terms entered.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: Search Engines
I had a short but surprising problem with DDG today, they went down, for about 15 minutes. Tried several sources/browsers and they simply were off line. Sunday night in the US so perhaps maintenance, but regardless, a search engine company can't do that.
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: Search Engines
Alphabet has reported Google Ad revenue from crypto companies was down in Q3 ... but it is still taking money from scammers and listing their dodgy websites.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/25/crypto- ... mpire.html
https://cointelegraph.com/news/google-s ... nance-boss
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/25/crypto- ... mpire.html
https://cointelegraph.com/news/google-s ... nance-boss
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson