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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?

#311

Post by Jagat »

Jagat wrote: post #230
davidy123 wrote: post #61

First of all, I hope this is just an tiny experiment or better a hoax, and won't be widely adopted. Google deserves constant critique, but they also deserve credit as a company that often promotes the open way first (for example, schema.org as a way anyone can describe their information, which can be ready by anyone). But if it's not an experiment, I'd start putting my energy into moving away from Google. In the Alta…

Confirming that it's not a hoax. Here's what I see on my two browsers https://imgur.com/a/0tcLhBe

sorry, wrong link. This is the right one https://imgur.com/a/TX49AZu

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#312

Post by hodgesrm »

ConceptJunkie wrote: post #299
jumbopapa wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really buy using legislation. Alternatives exist and people don't seem to care to use them. That's the market at work.

Once you have monopoly power, the market can do little. Google has that power now.

You mean like the power of yahoo/altavista back in the day?

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#313

Post by RonanTheGrey »

v7p1Qbt1im wrote: post #288
dessant wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes: minimize or stop using them... The web has very little lock-in There are people who could not register to vote in time because reCAPTCHA has blocked them.

What‘s your alternative to using reCAPTCHA? Have you tried building a page with login function without it?

Not using a captcha at all?

300,000 users a month and we don't have any problems. Why do people think this is so critical? Just because TEH GOOGLE convinced us it is in order to push their product?

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#314

Post by RonanTheGrey »

9HZZRfNlpR wrote: post #119
ddtaylor wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is wrong with just not using Google instead?

It's impossible, they track and bother you even if you selectively ignore them. It's sick that we tolerate it, you wouldn't tolerate peeping Tom's either if they promised to anonymity their data. Hey your daughter is anonymous and face blurred, there is no harm done. You can ignore all the public beaches, just opt out like that.

You know what, I'm going to start using that. Let's call a spade a spade, this is exactly what Google is doing.

Make this concept popular and even the layperson will understand what Google is doing to them.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#315

Post by [deleted] »

scarface74 wrote: post #194
dessant wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't really buy using legislation. Alternatives exist and people don't seem to care to use them. Google is engaged in using its market dominance in one segment to gain or maintain dominance in others, while suppressing the competition. This is illegal behavior for which Google has been fined several times over the past few years. Just consider that in past Android versions there was a hard-coded Google search ba…

How is Google stopping users from using another search engine?

[deleted]

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#316

Post by dbuder »

chillfox wrote: post #99
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…

The recourse you have available is writing letters to your elected representatives and if they fail to take adequate action then to vote for someone else who will take action.

What if you're in a two party system and both have been bought off? We need to take real action soon.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#317

Post by firexcy »

nullc wrote: post #222

The fact that google rewrites the displayed URLs as you click on them to intercept the traffic (and that firefox continues to allow them to do it: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=229050 ) is bad enough. Google's current behavior makes it so you can't copy URLs from search results so your only option is to copy the displayed URL (if it's short enough) ... so of course, they're going to remove the displaye…

Yes, and this behavior is also annoying because it prevents you from copying the real URL directly from the result page. Instead you’re getting a rewrited URL that is neither readable or shareable.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#318

Post by corford »

Echoing everyone else: this is the shove I needed to finally swap to DDG full time.

Bonus I just discovered: by setting DDG as my search provider in Firefox, I can now go directly to wikipedia articles or google images from FF's search toolbar - just have to prepend the appropriate bang... quite handy!

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#319

Post by dorgo »

tarsinge wrote: post #176
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…

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…

>I know dislike Google results UI

I use DDG as a default search engine for a while, but fell back to google search often, because I felt that Google results are better. At some point i enabled a stylesheet which made DDG results look like google's. And the search results improved significantly. I stopped using Google search for anything other than Google maps.

Re: Google are removing URLs entirely from search results?

#320

Post by danaris »

dilap wrote: post #199
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’m a happy DDG user; I think it’s close but defnly a notch below Google in search quality. Sadly, this is mostly Google having fallen off, not DDG having gotten better. Still it’s worth it for the better website design, avoiding AMP, and the general impression that you’re not interacting with a malevolently intentioned entity.

I've been using DDG on and off for several years, and as my primary search engine for the past 2-3+. It's definitely increased in quality from the first times I tried it, and has continued to inch up even as Google has decided they care more about enabling horrendous link farms than actually returning good search results.
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