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If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

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Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#91

Post by vopi »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #70
kauguste281 wrote: post #65

Google sucks compared to Google from years ago. It's still vastly superior to the modern alternatives. It doesn't help that almost all alternatives out there are just Bing with different window dressing, so going through alternatives is just annoying as they have all the same holes in the search results. Another big issue is that everybody just tries to copy Google. I don't need Google in less good, I want to see som…

Google had a "search only forums" filter. I was devastated when they took it away. You can fake it by searching one forum at a time with "site:whatever.com", but you have to do one at a time and that doesn't help if there are forums you don't know about. Google could double its usefulness overnight just by bringing this back.

idk if you know this but kagi has a "discussion" filter (among other filters)

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#92

Post by RSHEPP »

compiler-guy wrote: post #76

The web itself sucks more and more, and Google results reflect that. Much good discussion migrated to siloed locations like facebook groups. There are thousands of pages of technical content that are barely redone versions of each other. Each SEO'd to within an inch of its life. These are quite similar to the dozens of identical off-brand products one finds on amazon. I would love to see Google results get better. Bu…

This has a what seems to be a positive effect in my life though. I use the library much more than I used to. Instead of finding blogs using Google like the first part of my career, I find books at the local library.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#93

Post by nyx_land »

Because there is effectively no alternative. Bing and engines that are different frontends for Bing results aren't alternatives, don't kid yourself; it only exists still because Microsoft is another company like Google that shoves their subpar product onto people (by making it the default search on their subpar OS that took over the world) and hopes they never seek out alternatives. Most people are too dumb and lazy to seek out better alternatives, so they stick with the default search engines for Edge or Chrome. For everyone else, there is no real alternative, so while Google's search results are getting objectively worse, it doesn't matter because it's at least a lesser of two evils. They don't need to worry about becoming more mediocre when they've made sure to put themselves in a position where they basically have no competition.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#94

Post by [deleted] »

black_puppydog wrote: post #73
zargon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Google is an actively hostile experience. Try it without adblock and get a taste of how most people get treated by Google. And for the search results, Kagi is already better for 90% of my queries. It's much more difficult now to build a competitive search engine, but saying it's impossible and discussions should be banned is toxic. (And already basically proven wrong with existing competing search engines.)

Came here to mention kagi. Very happy user here. The no-spam results make it so much more useful as a tool. Also, "block this site from myresults forever" gives so much more agency to the user than anything Google has release in years. Googles "we know better" just reads as a big middle finger to me.

[deleted]

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#95

Post by sltkr »

zargon wrote: post #40
fdgsdfogijq wrote: post #22

Honestly I think people are completely underestimating the difficulty of a good search engine. Google was better ten years ago because search was an easier problem to solve back then. End of story. Nobody is coming along with a better search engine. There is too much spam, content gaming, and money to be made by hacking search. These posts should almost be blocked from hacker news. ITs a fantasy. Its like saying that…

No. Google is an actively hostile experience. Try it without adblock and get a taste of how most people get treated by Google. And for the search results, Kagi is already better for 90% of my queries. It's much more difficult now to build a competitive search engine, but saying it's impossible and discussions should be banned is toxic. (And already basically proven wrong with existing competing search engines.)

Kagi requires users to sign up (even though it's currently free?) which is 1000x more user-hostile than anything Google does and makes it a nonstarter as far as I'm concerned.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#96

Post by tssge »

johndfsgdgdfg wrote: post #59
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How, exactly, does Google keep users hostage for money?

G Suite Workspace users are being kept hostages by Google unless the users pay more money[1]. [1] https://www.ghacks.net/2022/01/20/google-ends-the-g-suite-le...

Can't they just migrate off of it? I guess the only part being held hostage according to the article are their Play Store purchases, if even that (the article says the purchases' fate is unclear).

To me it seems Google has given ample time to either migrate off of it or to become a customer.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#97

Post by sokoloff »

kodah wrote: post #67
sokoloff wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"See results for ' ' Create your free Neeva account." "To continue searching and access all of Neeva's features, create your free account. Already a Neeva member? Sign in" Yeah, no.

Ah, Neeva is eventually going to be a paid product, that's why it's that way. That said, their membership is pretty cheap for what you get.

I don't mind giving my email or making an account after I have any inkling that the product might be worth deleting a few spam emails. Neeva was giving me a modal popup in my first minute; that's never going to get my email.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#99

Post by omnicognate »

sltkr wrote: post #95
zargon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Google is an actively hostile experience. Try it without adblock and get a taste of how most people get treated by Google. And for the search results, Kagi is already better for 90% of my queries. It's much more difficult now to build a competitive search engine, but saying it's impossible and discussions should be banned is toxic. (And already basically proven wrong with existing competing search engines.)

Kagi requires users to sign up (even though it's currently free?) which is 1000x more user-hostile than anything Google does and makes it a nonstarter as far as I'm concerned.

Kagi is intended to be a paid service when it launches. This is something I actively want. It should make them the opposite of user-hostile. Their users will be the source of their revenue so they will need to provide value or lose them. Login is a necessary part of that. I'm happy to take both that inconvenience and the cost.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#100

Post by syshum »

mountainriver wrote: post #78

The “google search sucks” rhetoric is getting a bit old. It works really really well and is free. I rarely ever have issues with it. I think it’s just getting trendy to dog on

No it is far far far less useful than it was a few years ago, I routinely now have to use a couple different search engines to find solutions to technical problems because google tends to weight sources it thinks I should be using for and not the sources I would like.

For example one software platform I use all the time has community forum that is almost useless because every post to the forum is simply met with "open a ticket with support" with no actual resolution, these post flood the google search results, however other search engines bubble up blogs, other forums, reddit, or other sources not just the set of sites over and over again.

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