The site no longer requires installing an extension, so it seems they have indeed been responsive to feedback. (Please excuse the redundancy if this has already been noted)
They still do though, just checked.
Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
341–350 of 477 posts
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#342Tried searching for a problem I had earlier today. Got only one web result, a “quick fact”, a YouTube video, and the final result just asked me to sign into GitHub. Definitely not coming back, seems pretty useless
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#343Earlier quoted context omitted.
Respectfully: because nobody knows who the fuck you are, and your reasoning doesn't make sense. You want to offer a privacy focused search service, but the users need to install an extension because otherwise instead of just having a regular web frontend for the masses to try. Then it's too hard for lusers to switch; you created this problem for yourself. The more you respond, the more it looks like this is some poor…
I get it. There are tons of sketchy extensions. We'll open source our extension so you can see the entire 33kB that's needed to make one settings change. Also, you can try it out in incognito mode or change those settings manually and hence give it a try :) But most people need the simplicity and convenience of a few clicks in order to give it a proper try.
> But most people need the simplicity and convenience of a few clicks in order to give it a proper try.
... how about zero clicks, by showing search results when someone searches in Chrome using your search box?
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#344Like many others here, you lost me at "install the extension". Hope you will come out with a real search engine instead of an install.
It's the only way to be a real search engine right now with a monopoly that blocks you from the navbar of your browser.
Without that convenience, would you really try it for a few days and go back every time until you're convinced?
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#345Earlier quoted context omitted.
He got it from Marc Benioff, who purchased in 1996. I'm assuming as a favor or private transaction, given that Richard and Marc know each other (from Salesforce) and the seed round. https://www.protocol.com/you-dot-com-benioff
Fair enough. Instead of signing a big check for an incredibly valuable domain, Benioff transferred the incredibly valuable domain from his personal possession to the company. I’m not personally of the opinion that this is an important enough distinction to avoid talking about my larger point of “This is an expensive endeavor and there is no reason to believe that there is any barrier preventing an exit that involves…
I will try to build a large company based on our values of trust, facts and kindness.
My goal is not to get acquired in order to "wash my hands"...
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#346Earlier quoted context omitted.
DuckDuckGo seens to have been able to do this just fine, even with the weirdest name for a company ever. Their growing by word of mouth from geeks like us. I set DDG as default on all of my family/friends browsers. Focus on making a good search and users will come
Their growing by word of mouth from geeks like us Well, to be complete, DDG also advertises on radio, on streaming, on billboards, and in newspapers. I think TV is the only place I haven't seen a DDG ad.
Actually I saw a ddg ad on TV. I started rolling my eyes thinking it was a Google ad lying about privacy but was pleasantly surprised by the duck logo.
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#347A few things:
0) Brave lets me run searches w/out the extension
0:0) Chrome & Chromium do not
0:1) I find it irritating that I am not told to download the extension before the search. This is irritating because I've already expended the mental effort to produce a search query, and something tells me that the extension won't remember that query five minutes later after I've installed it, so I'm going to have to copy-paste or do some other out-of-band nonsense to tack down my current mental context.
0:2) I get the anti-big-tech sentiment. (Hell, I run Brave and set my default engine to DDG.) But I also know how frustrating it is when I have to interrupt some flow of thought I have just to perform some boilerplate ritual for the sake of the computer/developer. Tell me I have to install the extension before I run a search. Convince me that the extension isn't low-quality trash like most browser extensions are, that it's not mining Ethereum in the background and that it's not going to grind my CPU to a halt when I'm running full dev.
1) I wanted to dislike the "for devs" branding, but e.g. `v3d linux registers` actually returned relevant results, including relevant files in the Linux source
2) If you want an "in" for an installed based, make an editor extension, probably VS code; Emacs if you want hacker cred
2:0) This will reduce the friction when I as a dev have to learn some aspect of a library/protocol/RFC/spec on the fly, but only for implementation purposes, not to truly grok.
2:1) An editor extension also frees me from certain limitations of the web (even w/ browser extension). A search engine that could parse and present and even make executable certain portion of the IETF RFCs, for instance, could be quite useful
3) The search results are a little "busy," and I'm not sure what these "shortcut" buttons are for. They seem to do nothing for me (on Brave, no extension).
4) Most code search features are awful. GitHub's search, for instance, has so much noise and so little signal that searching Google or DuckDuckGo w/ site:github.com is more likely to find a relevant result.
4:0) This is particularly frustrating because I often want to search private repos that aren't indexed by Google (hint, hint, editor extension)
4:1) I end up using something like The Silver Searcher (`ag`) on the command line in order to find what I'm looking for, esp. in a large codebase. That UX has all of the warmth and simplicity of a wet blanket.
4:2) If you could build local code search that is integrated into global search results per user, and you convincingly proved that ABSOLUTELY NO private local code left the confines of the computer the data was stored on, then you would have a winner. But you'd need absolute credibility (hint, hint, talk to your lawyers).
4:3) While on the subject of lawyers, this engineer would personally love it if privacy policy and TOS were "versioned" so that I could actually trust them to remain stable over time. Today, TOS is always treated as forced upgrade without my consent.
5) How expensive was the domain `you.com`?
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#348Earlier quoted context omitted.
it takes 5 seconds to install and uninstall an extension. we will open source it also so people can see how simple and benign it is. It feels like 5s to help move the internet away from a privacy invading monopoly isn't too bad? If you like privacy and agency of your information diet, or saving lots of time while coding, or Reddit results always accessible to browse for most queries, etc. Then the 5s install will be…
Maybe a compromise would be keeping the button to install the extension but add a link along the lines of "Don't want an extension?" that explains how you can use it without installing the extension and your reasons for the extension.
Thanks. THat's helpful feedback. We just added that below the extension button:
Don't like extensions? Click here to make it your default manually instead.
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#349Just to be sure we're on the same page here: * You're pitching this search engine specifically "for devs". * You're pitching it on HN, a community which (correct me if I'm wrong, @dang) is largely composed of your target audience. * When given feedback, you're responding very defensively in almost 100% of your comments with something akin to "an extension takes 5s to install and uninstall, just do it, no one cares, w…
I feel really sorry for the people on his team who undoubtedly put a lot of time and effort into this, only to see it being put to waste by the most tone deaf CEO I’ve ever witnessed.
Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs
#350Earlier quoted context omitted.
I strongly second this. I immediately gave up on trying it out once I realized I had to download something. Your KPIs should be around how sticky your search features are, it seems like it is currently based on download counts.
Hey. Yea. We struggle with the extension -> navbar search requirement also. We have found that if you're not the default engine that is easily accessible from the Navbar, you will not be able to break the Google monopoly. We also found that many people will just do a quick search for "asd" or "weather" and then leave because those searches aren't really differentiated (and just can't really be). Our extension is 33kB…
I have a bookmarks folder for small search engines I like. I don't think there's a need for it to be a default.