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Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

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51–60 of 332 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#51

The problem with monopolies is they can easily purchase serious competitors. That is why we need the government to regulate these companies and spur competition.

Even if the competitor tries to hold their ground and refuse to be bought, the monopoply can still bend the competitor to their will in other means.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#52

DuckDuckGo just ended their value proposition: https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1501716484761997318 Not that there are many great alternatives, but the whole point of a SEARCH ENGINE is not censoring results. I understand ranking makes it searchable, but omitting views / results based on politics is self-reinforcing and makes anyone using the service blind to views and in a sense reality. I think search can’t really b…

The main reason a lot of people use DDG is privacy, not uncensored search results. I do think that this move could have been handled better.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#53
post #48

Bing is becoming fairly popular in the US https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/deskto...

Microsoft is pushing extremely hard for it. In Windows if you miss a barely visible button you will find yourself switching to Edge and Bing without realizing it. That Google is still at 85% show that people really want to use Google, it is not just "whatever comes with the computer".

..."you will find yourself switched* to...." Ftfy.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#54

DuckDuckGo just ended their value proposition: https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1501716484761997318 Not that there are many great alternatives, but the whole point of a SEARCH ENGINE is not censoring results. I understand ranking makes it searchable, but omitting views / results based on politics is self-reinforcing and makes anyone using the service blind to views and in a sense reality. I think search can’t really b…

The main reason a lot of people use DDG is privacy, not uncensored search results. I do think that this move could have been handled better.

Both go hand in hand with trust. When you compromise one you poison the other due to lost trust.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#55

DuckDuckGo just ended their value proposition: https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1501716484761997318 Not that there are many great alternatives, but the whole point of a SEARCH ENGINE is not censoring results. I understand ranking makes it searchable, but omitting views / results based on politics is self-reinforcing and makes anyone using the service blind to views and in a sense reality. I think search can’t really b…

The main reason a lot of people use DDG is privacy, not uncensored search results. I do think that this move could have been handled better.

I think your mistaken, the only reason DDG took off, at least in the circles I’ve visited (open source communities, privacy focused, politics, etc) is the freedom to research anything in a safe way.

Think of it another way, “who cares about privacy?” Probably those searching for “unacceptable” ideas.

If they censor, who’s to say they wouldn’t turn you into the authorities for “wrong think”.

Their value proposition of privacy was damaged by this BECAUSE they want to limit your search results.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#56
post #28
post #19

Because nobody is writing good benchmarks for search engines. You can't improve something if you can't see what you're doing.

I find it interesting that you mention the word benchmark because reviewers used to rely on benchmarks for new phones and such but then iirc at least OnePlus and Samsung devices have been caught and banned from multiple benchmarks.

You can use benchmarks to sell a product, but you can also use them to improve your product. I'm thinking of the latter.

The absolute no 1 prerequisite for building a good search engine is having good benchmarks.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#57

My opinion hasn’t changed much since writing this (just disregard the blockchain commentary at the end): https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-beat-Google/answer/M... A few competitors such as you.com are in the works. I think there’s a lot of potential, but the ranking algorithm is going to need to be decentralized (aka user-configurable) in some way. This configuration would also need to be sharable, maybe someth…

the ranking algorithm is going to need to be decentralized (aka user-configurable) in some way

What do you mean? What configuration options would you like?

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#58

> Despite all the posts about the declining quality of Google We assume people in general are dissatisfied with Google, because there are blog posts about it, and some people on HN agree, and because we have certain strongly held beliefs and technical knowledge that lead us to this conclusion. What we have not validated is whether people outside the tech community are as dissatisfied as we are. If they aren't willing…

I'm dissatisfied with google for my normal use cases too... But that is more with the state of the Internet in general. But on other hand I hate fuzzy search, trying to help me... Those keywords are there for reason and might even be spelled right...

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#59

DuckDuckGo just ended their value proposition: https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1501716484761997318 Not that there are many great alternatives, but the whole point of a SEARCH ENGINE is not censoring results. I understand ranking makes it searchable, but omitting views / results based on politics is self-reinforcing and makes anyone using the service blind to views and in a sense reality. I think search can’t really b…

Spreading lies is a value proposition? I disagree. I don’t think “censoring child porn” is a bad thing either, which DDG does. Just because information of some sort exists, doesn’t mean it’s inherently valuable to spread.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't there a Google competitor emerging?

#60

DuckDuckGo just ended their value proposition: https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1501716484761997318 Not that there are many great alternatives, but the whole point of a SEARCH ENGINE is not censoring results. I understand ranking makes it searchable, but omitting views / results based on politics is self-reinforcing and makes anyone using the service blind to views and in a sense reality. I think search can’t really b…

> but the whole point of a SEARCH ENGINE is not censoring results

Disagree. I hate it as much as the next person when Google censor results due to DMCA request (a law i couldn't care less about which shouldn't have jurisdiction over me), but you have to admit there are things to limit. Should a search engine return child porn results? (Yes, it's an easy and egregious example, but that's the point - there are such subjects).

Furthermore, censoring low quality enemy propaganda is a public service.

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