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

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

#291

Post by celdon25 »

faitswulff wrote: post #78
celdon25 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From parent comment: > This configuration would also need to be sharable, maybe something akin to an App Store, because not all users can be asked to be technical enough to configure everything.

That's still configuration. Sharing a config? Asking a friend for the best search algorithm? Most users are accustomed to just typing in their search query into random input fields and getting perfectly serviceable results.

They're free to keep using Google if they want. My grandmother preferred AOL for many years after its prime. No shame in that.

Or, as with any other software, there's this thing called a default, which usually works for the average user.

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

#292

Post by nr2x »

technobabbler wrote: post #276
nr2x wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just invented pre-Google Yahoo!

I know. I remember and loved it then.

I also remember altavista and the like and how bad they were. When google came on the scene it was a total game changer.

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

#293

Post by SpodGaju »

missedthecue wrote: post #186
SpodGaju wrote: post #31

I will argue that he fact that Google is a monopoly is the only thing holding back competitors. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-monop... The only thing that would have a chance is if Apple developed a search engine and used it as the default instead of using Google. People are busy/ignorant and do not care and will eat whatever search results they are given. But this might be a risk to Apple ba…

How does anti trust action solve this? Forcing to divest cloud and Gmail will not make competition have an easier job with their search engines. Google search itself is irreducible, at least in any productive way.

I don’t know, that’s for smarter people than me to figure out. But they are a monopoly so anti-trust action is called for.

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

#294

Post by technobabbler »

nr2x wrote: post #292
technobabbler wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know. I remember and loved it then.

I also remember altavista and the like and how bad they were. When google came on the scene it was a total game changer.

Google was definitely better than the algorithmic crawlers. But Yahoo often still had gems for a while, a few years maybe, before they gave up. It's too bad.

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

#295

Post by [deleted] »

x86_64Ubuntu wrote: post #94
faitswulff wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 99.9% of users would hate to have to configure their search results.

The Google hate is so thick that people don't even think about what a Google competitor or replacement (that isn't Google rebranded) looks like. No user is looking to pass around configuration file, or have discoverability issues because they haven't joined the right community that has what they are looking for. People want an omnibox that takes them to what they are looking for, even if they don't know what that is,…

[deleted]

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

#296

Post by JSONderulo »

brentadamson wrote: post #166
JSONderulo wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been pretty stoked on you.com so far. I do like the ability to pick my search sources (apps). It would be cool to see search results for different genres/communities.

`see search results for different genres/communities` Can you elaborate?

I just like and agree with conceptually Nuzzerino's idea above.

"Decentralized configuration would allow for communities with given interests to configure and distribute customizations for that audience, in a way that would appeal to that audience."

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

#297

Post by rcshubhadeep »

polote wrote: post #248
keyme wrote: post #196

The internet is too different now to what Google (or any SE) was designed to index. Too much of the up-to-date high value information is posted onto semi-public channels. Like facebook groups, instagram posts, telegram channels, etc. At the same time, too much of the publicly available websites are becoming clickbait and mindless marketing drivel. Just try to research anything slightly obscure that has to be up-to-da…

> It'll never reach a SERP in the future. Why not ? A scrapper may not be able to find it, but we all have a Facebook account. You dont need an automated scrapper to create a search engine. Info can be manually curated or scrapped through web extensions

I don't have a fb account. I am very happy about that :)

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

#298

Post by brentadamson »

samwillis wrote: post #203
brentadamson wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

`We almost need an “Open Search Co-Op” which smaller search engines can join to share technology and refers users to each other.` Can you elaborate?

Something like a cooperative where companies become the franchisee owner for a specific search vertical. They could get access to technology, software and knowledge, but the costs of infrastructure would be the responsibility of the member. As well as having their own “front page”, website and branding there would then be a “meta” search engine that intelligently searches the franchisees search engines based on the q…

To clarify, if I search for "Bob Marley" what would happen?

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

#299

Post by trashcan01 »

randomhedgehog wrote: post #282
satellite2 wrote: post #254

Contrary to many posts here, I think that Google completely controls the quality of the results. The feeling is that quality has gone down because a lot of top ranked website are SEO ads filled websites. I think this is true and on purpose. Two years ago top results were very often Wikipedia, Stack overflow or reddit. Sending users to those websites is not profitable for Google. I also think that's why it's very hard…

I don't quite understand what you mean when you say "sending users to those websites is not profitable for google" - referring to Wikipedia, Stack, Reddit etc... Organic search results only ever profit Google if they answer the user's question, because it makes that user more likely to use Google again and click an ad in the future. If a user searches something and the top result doesn't answer their question, then G…

> If a user searches something and the top result doesn't answer their question, then Google hasn't done it's job and the user is less likely to use Google again and therefore less likely to click an ad in the future.

This is simply false. It would only be true if there was a better alternative to Google, which there isn’t.

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

#300

Post by missedthecue »

SpodGaju wrote: post #293
missedthecue wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does anti trust action solve this? Forcing to divest cloud and Gmail will not make competition have an easier job with their search engines. Google search itself is irreducible, at least in any productive way.

I don’t know, that’s for smarter people than me to figure out. But they are a monopoly so anti-trust action is called for.

If you're not sure how it can solve the problem, why does it even cross your mind to recommend it in the first place?
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