Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

you.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

361–370 of 477 posts

Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

#361

Post by afandian »

richardsocher wrote: post #344
ccvannorman wrote: post #315

Like 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?

IMHO.

You're getting a lot of consistent feedback from lots of people that this way of explaining things doesn't land the way you think it will. The feedback is all well meaning, and signifies (I think) that people want an alternative to Google, and want to engage with you. That should be a signal that you should listen to them.

The stuff about monopolies may be your personal truth, it may be your motivation. It might even be technically correct.

But the people in this thread are real, and have a spectrum of experiences and perspectives which are different to yours. They may therefore may say things and react in ways that diverge with what you think they'll say and do. That's a great learning opportunity.

Taking feedback is a challenge sometimes, but how well you meet that challenge may well determine the success of your business!

(All my opinion, but it's frustrating that you returned to this thread the next day without seeming to have have accepted the feedback you came here for. I came to the above realization a few years back and it really helped, so I'm paying it forward!)

Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

#362

Post by rameshvel »

richardsocher wrote: post #226
cududa wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they published the extension source that might be more reasonable. I assume the extension is so a lot of heavy lifting on hitting individual apps/ API's happens locally to alleviate costs or rate limiting

Working on it right now :) Extension changes your navbar setting. It's 33kB. All the heavy lifting happens on our servers so as to not slow browsers down for users.

If its just 33 kb, whatever it does can be done in the webpage itself.

To try the search engine, I have to install an extension or make it as a default search engine. Not cool at all.

Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

#363

Post by rawoke083600 »

enw wrote: post #360

I haven’t seen a more tone-deaf, smug, and patronizing CEO for a long while. User-hostile UX, a baffling inability to process feedback and seemingly no interest in potential customers. You should really think things through.

Right !? Imagine he is your boss, and you have a legitimate complaint or good idea. Good luck getting that through !

Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

#364

Post by bryans »

richardsocher wrote: post #345
newbie789 wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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"...

Except you've almost exclusively sown distrust and treated this community like we're incompetent. It's beyond disturbing that you believe it's appropriate to gaslight the entire startup community during your product announcement. That's not kind, nor trustworthy, and your "facts" have been entirely wrong.

> My goal is not to get acquired in order to "wash my hands"...

Also, extremely interesting choice of words here. You didn't say you're not aiming to get acquired, you just said that when you do get acquired it won't be for the reasons we all think, which is just more gaslighting and doesn't actually address any of the concerns.

Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

#366

Post by wenbin »

I feel that search engine is hot again :)

A recent well-executed one: neeva.com https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27675408

Then you.com today.

For anyone who wants to build a search engine, just look at DuckDuckGo's traffic growth: https://duckduckgo.com/traffic It takes time to grow. Be patient. Don't give up too soon :)

Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

#369

Post by tobr »

skinkestek wrote: post #143
richardsocher wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh. That's odd. It shouldn't ask you for the Chrome install if you're on Firefox. We can't reproduce that bug. What version of FF are you on?

Happens for me too, Firefox on iOS. Edit: it badgers me to install it in Chrome even in mobile Safari. Edit 2: seems there is a search box on top of the page. It works but I didn't notice it initially because - the page was so intensely focused on getting me to install a Chrome extension (both in Firefox on iOS and Safari on iOS) - and the placeholder text ("you.com")looked like a decoration initially (try something…

Looks like the issue is that the submitted link is a search for “you.com”, which appears to be a special search result that includes prominent promotion of the Chrome extension, regardless of which browser you’re using. It would probably have been a better idea to submit a link to the landing page or a normal search result.

Re: Show HN: You.com, private search engine that summarizes the web – built for devs

#370

Post by TekMol »

This makes a really bad impression.

Built for devs? It looks like the exact opposite to me.

The layout has a focus on flashy design and no focus on content. Devs like content.

They talk about "superior privacy" but when you open the network tab you see their serps send queries all over the place. Just on my first serp, I see queries to serpapi.com which is owned by "SerpApi, LLC", to bing.com which is owned by Microsoft, to scdn.co (Spotify?) and to other hosts. As a dev, my impression is that they make no effort at all to keep their users data private. What I see is the complete opposite.

The approach to force the user to install software. Devs know that there is no technical reason for it. And how dangerous and privacy violating this is.

Then the reasoning in the replies here. They say it was a "tough choice" to force software down users throats, but it is a good way to gain market share and helps competing with Google. So their values are growth first, users second. As a dev, my reply is: Leave me alone already!

And it gets worse. The founder here on HN gets the top comment spot fixed with no way to reply? How did they socialize their way into HN to get this special treatment? This is offensive to devs. Devs like to see competition on features. Not on social trickery.

Post reply on HN