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Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

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Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#271

Post by arminiusreturns »

notus wrote: post #168
yyyk wrote: post #50

This is a purely anti-user move. No user gains anything by it, this actually helps phishing sites. Oh, and it happens to help Google's AMP effort, which can now pretend to be the original site even more effectively. Time to get everyone to use Duck Duck Go, and to get rid of those Google CAPTCHAs which are an even bigger data harvesting operation than search.

Side note: For those who tried DDG in the past and were unimpressed I suggest giving it a whirl again. I kind of wrote it off a few years ago and then tried it recently and its pretty good. You may have to modify some search habits. If you enable location tracking they do anonymous localized results (can read about it here: https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/anonymous-localized-resu... ) Usually good if you're used…

For those considering it, just please remember you can still do google searches from DDG, and imho much more smoothly. For example, I don't even know if googles date operator works anymore, and it's too slow for my taste to click the date range I want in google, so if I want google results for the last year I just do !gyear, etc.

Once you start remembering the DDG bang operators things get much smoother. Also, one more thing, DDG has a cli client that is pretty awesome if you live in the cli like I do.

https://github.com/jarun/ddgr

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#272

Post by arminiusreturns »

9HZZRfNlpR wrote: post #220
iKevinShah wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any link for that please?

CIA grants. As conspiracy it sounds, it's perfectly public knowledge and true.

It annoys me how any mention of the In-Q-Tel relationship to certain tech firms is met with derision and downvotes and accusations of crazy conspiracy theory. It's as if NSL's and Prism were just a blip on the radar people want to pretend isn't happening anymore. Snowdens docs though released in 2013 were from 2007! Imagine how much more embedded and pervasive the system is (which probably just got a name change as is standard when programs similar are revealed to the public).

Add in whatever the modern version of Operation Mockingbird is and those companies at the very least are sure to have been infiltrated after the fact. Probably willingly. You'd be surprised how servile people get when men in black suits with 3letter badges show up and say the words "National Security". All these factors and more in aggregate make the probability that there was government influence and involvement highly likely.

For those who want just a primer on this complex subject, here is a decent article: https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-goo...

Another interesting interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfUm0RxXWxI

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#273

Post by NicoJuicy »

matt4077 wrote: post #212
danShumway wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Google for me, the link is missing. Google also does this fun thing where when you click on the link it invisibly changes in the background to a Google-wrapped URL.[0] If you right-click on the link and select "copy link location", you won't get the result you want, you'll get gibberish. So it proves that you can use DuckDuckGo to immediately get the link with no fuss, and that Google Search is increasingly not de…

Google rewrites URLs to track clicks and improve search, which is mildly annoying but not quite nefarious. The links obviously works, but if you want it to look nicer, why not just click and get the URL from the browser? That might even be faster depending on device and keyboard/touchscreen/mouse setup and usage.

It is very annoying for pdf documents, where it is downloaded immediatly in your browser though.

I just want the link :)

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#274

Post by tcpekin »

behnamoh wrote: post #192
tarsinge wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here, switched my default search engine to DDG a few months and it took only a few days to get used to it. So much that I was very surprised to discover that I know dislike Google results UI (something I never imagined could happen). I still fallback to Google for advanced search (usually technical subjects) with !g but in the majority of common searches the DDG default results are what I expect. Seriously to al…

DDG should seriously drop the infinite scrolling on their results page. It's so annoying, even Google tried it once and gave up on it.

This looks to be a setting you can change in their "Other Settings" page.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#275

Post by behnamoh »

blihp wrote: post #255
behnamoh wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically after a few decades of using the Internet, we're now at a place where we are willing to stop using some of the most famous services we're accustomed to. Strangely, those are mostly owned by Google and Facebook.

Yes, that's the way market economies work. One of your jobs as a consumer is to recognize when your interests and a company's no longer align and be willing to walk.

Of course, but majority of people aren't informed enough about these situations and that has created a negative loop which allows these companies to exploit lack of knowledge on their customers' part in an increasing rate.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#276

Post by maest »

notus wrote: post #168
yyyk wrote: post #50

This is a purely anti-user move. No user gains anything by it, this actually helps phishing sites. Oh, and it happens to help Google's AMP effort, which can now pretend to be the original site even more effectively. Time to get everyone to use Duck Duck Go, and to get rid of those Google CAPTCHAs which are an even bigger data harvesting operation than search.

Side note: For those who tried DDG in the past and were unimpressed I suggest giving it a whirl again. I kind of wrote it off a few years ago and then tried it recently and its pretty good. You may have to modify some search habits. If you enable location tracking they do anonymous localized results (can read about it here: https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/anonymous-localized-resu... ) Usually good if you're used…

I think it's fair to say DDG (i.e. Bing) is clearly worse than Google, which is a real shame.

However, it's still usable and you can resort to google when a search query isn't working.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#277

Post by jrnichols »

blihp wrote: post #161
dessant wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we have any recourse against this monopoly, other than voicing our concerns repeatedly while they ignore us? Can we launch a class action lawsuit against Google if they harm people by limiting consumer choice, and force us to be tracked everywhere using reCAPTCHA v3 and various other methods? Keep in mind that not sending your data to Google is not a real option, there are several government services, health care…

Yes: minimize or stop using them. There are alternate search options. The web has very little lock-in (on the user side) compared to say desktop and mobile... make use of that. While there's a chance the EU might do something about the behavior, I think it's safe to say that here in the US the odds of anything pro-consumer happening anytime soon are effectively nil.

My roadblock with that is when I tell people I try to not use Google properties, they look at me like i'm some sort of conspiracy theorist loon. :/

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#278

Post by maest »

powersnail wrote: post #262
notus wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Side note: For those who tried DDG in the past and were unimpressed I suggest giving it a whirl again. I kind of wrote it off a few years ago and then tried it recently and its pretty good. You may have to modify some search habits. If you enable location tracking they do anonymous localized results (can read about it here: https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/anonymous-localized-resu... ) Usually good if you're used…

I found that DDG is okay for two types of queries: common everyday topics and technical queries. For many other niche topic, it’s not good at all. I use DDG as the default and have been doing so for many years. I still have to add !g every time I search for violin related questions. The results are often just not relevant at all. I think DDG still has a long way to grow to be a 100% replacement for Google outside the…

Regarding technical queries, they consistently return links to the python 2 docs, never python 3.

What I assume people do is they click on the python 2 docs then change the version on the python website. So, from bings perspective it looks like people want the python 2 links. It always frustrates me and makes looking stuff up longer than needed.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#279

Post by maest »

journalctl wrote: post #115
dessant wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we have any recourse against this monopoly, other than voicing our concerns repeatedly while they ignore us? Can we launch a class action lawsuit against Google if they harm people by limiting consumer choice, and force us to be tracked everywhere using reCAPTCHA v3 and various other methods? Keep in mind that not sending your data to Google is not a real option, there are several government services, health care…

> Do we have any recourse against this monopoly...? Once upon a time, Congress used to write and pass laws to protect Americans from egregious abuses of power like this. Of course, that time is long gone.

What about the rest of the world? Everyone uses Google, not just the US.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#280

Post by jrnichols »

Vaslo wrote: post #116
swebs wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Duckduckgo uses Bing search in the back end, which is dogshit. Alternatively, you can use Startpage, which uses Google results, but anonymized.

I use Bing everyday, get points towards gift cards, and literally never have any issues finding anything I search for, personal or technical.

I too have enjoyed Bing more these days. I've always enjoyed their daily travel images especially, and the search results have been decent.
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