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Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

#41

Post by damon_dam »

I've switched the default to DDG when they started requiring JS. I run with JS enabled, but the fact that it's now required screams fingerprinting and other shenanigans. 90% of my searches are trivial, so DDG is now a better default fit.

Hey Google, here's a modest proposal: nerdsearch.google.com. Return the same results, but in a spartan HN-like format, with no JS or fingerprinting or other "did be evil" things. Non-techies will never find out about it if you don't advertise it. You can still fingerprint people who don't know or care about it.

> Gmail? YouTube? Gemini? Chrome? Android

Most of these are best-in-class, so I think I detect some bias in the question.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

#42

Post by hollow-moe »

Trying to avoid them as much as I can : Kagi, Thunderbird (gmail account), different YouTube frontends as they tend to regularly break (YouTube is really pushing back nowadays), No AI, LibreWolf, Lineage and I'll complement with Nextcloud for drive/calendar/contacts.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

#43

Post by someonehere »

ChatGPT has replaced Google searches for me. 15 years ago I could ask Google a question and get a pretty accurate to what I wanted. From there I would rabbit hole into my search.

ChatGPT gives me the answer I need now. From there I can ask more questions and it rabbit holes for me.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

#45

Post by dzhiurgis »

fsflover wrote: post #19
witty-name wrote: post #11

Still prefer Google over any other search engine. Here are the issues I've faced with some of the alternatives: 1. Duck: Used it for years but the quality of results has taken a nosedive lately. 2. Startpage: Was good when it used to get results from Google but now it's a mix of Google and Bing. 3. Metasearch engines (SearX): Unreliable since they rely on scraping. 4. Kagi: Results are not better enough to consider p…

> but the quality of results has taken a nosedive lately I hate when people bash good things without providing any details. This is so unhelpful. I've been using DDG for 5+ years; switching to Google never helps to find something useful on top.

Same, results are just as good as google. Image search layout if far better than google’s attrocity.

Google Shopping is advantage tho.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

#47

Post by conception »

1970-01-01 wrote: post #23

Google.com is still the pinnacle of cheap, fast, and relevant search however they are rapidly losing ground to Kagi and others due to junk results. If Kagi was totally free it would rapidly climb up to #1.

If Kagi was free, it would also produce junk results.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

#49

Post by fsflover »

Evil_Saint wrote: post #39
fsflover wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GNU/Linux phones can be a better alternative than Android, too.

Are any of the options mature enough to be a daily driver yet? It's been a while but I was not successful with switching to the pinephone when I first got it. The librem5 was still having battery issues last time I checked as well.

It depends on what you need from a daily driver. I'm using Librem 5 as one. Battery life is bearable: https://forums.puri.sm/t/nine-months-librem-5-as-my-only-pho..., https://forums.puri.sm/t/a-l5-review-1-week-to-my-ready-to-s...

Re: Ask HN: Do you still use Google?

#50

Post by jbaber »

beretguy wrote: post #2

Only YouTube. Have about 6 favorite channels and that's it. But even then try to find a YouTube front that works. I wish my favorite YouTubers also posted their content elsewhere.

If there were an elsewhere free to the creator, they might. Is there?
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