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Giving up on Google

robsheldon.com

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Re: Giving up on Google

#11

Post by antirez »

BCM43 wrote: post #6
frossie wrote: post #3

I also switched to DDG at the prompting of an HN commenter, and agree entirely with the points made in the OP. The only downside really is just in the formatting of the results - I can get 11-12 results in a google search in a full-height window and about 8 in DDG. Sure, some of that is due to the very nice "disambiguator" box (or whetever they call it), and the results are indeed generally higher quality, but it is…

You can change the font size in the settings, if you have not already done so.

yep this is the first thing I did, it fixes part of the problem, but the generated page is still "hard to scan".

It's a shame as it is a not so hard problem to solve. It should just copy the search result google had in the early days :)

Re: Giving up on Google

#12

Post by InfinityX0 »

I really think this is a case of confirmation bias. We see Google approaching this dominating mass that's impossible to stop, so we begin looking for ways to tear down big brother and look for holes. So, we notice every spam entry.

I work in search and I can't recollect a time EVER having been frustrated with what Google gave me - and having to go to another engine. And I live, eat, & breathe the thing.

I understand I have a notoriously small sample (as compared to the entire world of search - and I generally search for terms that have been optimized by similar search professionals), but the idea is that really, 10 good search results is pretty much impossible - what matters is that there is always three-four results on every page that are relevant. And without fail, Google continues to deliver this - at least for me.

This process is what occurs for every monopoly. We hate the Yankees, Microsoft, whatever. It's natural to want to bring down something so dominating. But for me, Google is doing an absolutely incredible job.

The only potential I see for something like DDG unseating them (or even gaining legitimate market share) is if Google loses the ability to pivot. If this occurs, the dilution of the algorithm is possible, which could turn their product to crap.

BUT, given their history of 200+ algorithm changes per year, they have shown that not to be the case. Because of this, I imagine Google will be with us - & strongly with us - for the entirety of our lifetimes.

Re: Giving up on Google

#13

Post by zmmmmm »

I've tried several times to give up my Google habit. Once for an extended period with DDG. However each time, despite the correctly mentioned issues with spam, gaming etc, I still experienced severe withdrawal symptoms (and I made myself use the alternatives for 2 weeks at least, so I wasn't just hankering for the familiar).

Ironically, of all Google's services, search is the one I could most easily replace and would most like to replace, if an equally good competitor emerges. On the other hand, giving up Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and even Buzz at this point would be hard as my life is interwoven into them in many complex ways. The fact that my whole life is stored in these accounts but the same account lets google track my searches and associate them to me scares me and actually makes me want to replace Google as my search engine.

Re: Giving up on Google

#14

Post by ggchappell »

> ... Yahoo really isn't in the search business anymore, at least among the tech-savvy.

Was Yahoo! ever in the search business, among the tech-savvy?

This is a serious question. I've been webbing since '93, but I never made any serious use of the Yahoo! search box. I thought I was typical. Am I wrong?

Re: Giving up on Google

#15

Post by danilocampos »

I am often annoyed by Google. Its word clustering is too clever by half.

At one point I was debugging, I think, an NSTableView object. Google says "eh, fuck it, iPhone dev is much more popular, here's UITableView. Have fun with that."

And so then I have to wrap NSTableView in quotes to force Google to use my input as I've provided it.

I wish I could turn this kind of stuff off.

Re: Giving up on Google

#16

Post by doubleyooexwhy »

Wow, that blog design is beautiful.

Anyways, I'd love to switch to DDG, but too often it tells me "No more results. Try Google.", and almost every time a subsequent search on Google provides me with many more (relevant) links for the same query.

If DDG could be configured to basically be a proxy and fetch all of its results from Google, that'd be cool.

Re: Giving up on Google

#18

Post by blacksmythe »

InfinityX0 wrote: post #12

I really think this is a case of confirmation bias. We see Google approaching this dominating mass that's impossible to stop, so we begin looking for ways to tear down big brother and look for holes. So, we notice every spam entry. I work in search and I can't recollect a time EVER having been frustrated with what Google gave me - and having to go to another engine. And I live, eat, & breathe the thing. I understand…

  >> I  really think this is a case of confirmation bias. We see Google approaching this dominating mass that's impossible to stop, so we begin looking for ways to tear down big brother and look for holes.
I think that this is a case where we were comparing Google to what existing before (Yahoo, etc), and thought "this is great". Now we compare Google only to what we think it 'should' be.

Re: Giving up on Google

#19

Post by studer »

danilocampos wrote: post #15

I am often annoyed by Google. Its word clustering is too clever by half. At one point I was debugging, I think, an NSTableView object. Google says "eh, fuck it, iPhone dev is much more popular, here's UITableView. Have fun with that." And so then I have to wrap NSTableView in quotes to force Google to use my input as I've provided it. I wish I could turn this kind of stuff off.

Hmm. I just searched for it. 46,100 hits. Not a UITableView within sight.

Are you sure you didn't mistype? If I type in USTableView, it shows me two UITableView hits at the top, before the exact matches.

Re: Giving up on Google

#20

Post by danilocampos »

studer wrote: post #19
danilocampos wrote: post #15

I am often annoyed by Google. Its word clustering is too clever by half. At one point I was debugging, I think, an NSTableView object. Google says "eh, fuck it, iPhone dev is much more popular, here's UITableView. Have fun with that." And so then I have to wrap NSTableView in quotes to force Google to use my input as I've provided it. I wish I could turn this kind of stuff off.

Hmm. I just searched for it. 46,100 hits. Not a UITableView within sight. Are you sure you didn't mistype? If I type in USTableView, it shows me two UITableView hits at the top, before the exact matches.

It was a specific phrase where it did this, because I tried again with just NSTableView and it was cool. I wish I could remember what was giving me trouble so I could search for it again.
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