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DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

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Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#261

Post by ColinHayhurst »

nologic01 wrote: post #161

My experience with both DDG, which I use as default, and Google, which I use as backup has been steadily deteriorating over time. That is the opposite of what you would expect if incentives and business models around this most basic utility were not broken. If people can build collectively incredibly useful resources like wikipedia and openstreetmap why not an index of the web as a public good that is devoid of the r…

> If people can build collectively incredibly useful resources like wikipedia and openstreetmap why not an index of the web as a public good that is devoid of the race to the bottom dynamics of SEO and adtech and whatnot.

The size of a billion scale web search index like ours, is approaching 3 orders of the magintude the size of the Wikipedia and OSM databases we need to provide Wikipedia infoboxes and Map search.

Added to which it's very far from straightforward to provide search across billions of results in around 200ms.

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#262

Post by mardifoufs »

creshal wrote: post #219
xyst wrote: post #64

For what it’s worth: I have been using Ecosia as my preferred search engine. Basically it just forwards requests to Bing in exchange for ad revenue which is used to plant trees. Have been able to use the advanced keywords and operators to filter results with Ecosia https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/advanced-search-ke... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/advanced-search-op... Sometimes the search resul…

If the DDG changes are caused by Bing pricing changes, won't that also affect Ecosia sooner or later?

It seems like it sometimes works on ecosia, but not for everyone. Ddg also seems to have a similar issue, where it sometimes works depending on location (?). I guess even if it is not related to api pricing, it still shows that search engines that depend on reselling or vendoring an API aren't much of an alternative to the big guys (though ecosia is awesome, and it doesn't pretend to compete on the search offering itself ).

And hopefully I'm totally wrong about the whole situation being related to pricing!

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#263

Post by phpisthebest »

Animats wrote: post #139
hedora wrote: post #27

I’ve also noticed that “”’s stopped working as expected there recently. Sample query: “lowes pet bedding”. The quotation marks do something; they remove some results from tractor supply and home depot. However, many results don’t contain the word “lowes” or “bedding”. For example: https://animalcare.lacounty.gov/licensing/ And, none contain the exact phrase. Google does the expected thing (return one result). Annoyin…

I tried graphics card -"nvidia" graphics card -"radeon" on DuckDuckGo, Google, and Bing. Google is currently the only one which appeared to exclude the requested term. Bing and DuckDuckGo not only didn't exclude it, they highlighted it in results.

Since DDG is (or was last I knew) primary using bing under the hood i wonder if this is less a DDG Change and more a Bing Change?

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#264

Post by phpisthebest »

p-e-w wrote: post #42
plaguepilled wrote: post #40

Ah yes, the classic corporate footgun. I am sure power users who are alienated will most definitely stay quiet and not complain to their peers, damaging the reputation of a once reliable tool. This has never happened before after all. :')

There is no meaningful competition, so reputation doesn't matter. Those people already left Google to use DDG. Where are they going to go now? Some random individual's hobby search engine with a crappy index? Some shady startup's Bing wrapper that promotes a crypto scam? There is no real competition in search (and in social media, and in email, and in operating systems, and in browsers, ...). Companies can do whateve…

I am not aware of any that stopped using google search completely in favor of DDG,

For me DDG was better results, as Google has tried to read my mind and be "smart" about what i am "really" looking for instead of just giving me the results for the words I put in the box. I most often encounter this when looking for technical solutions to a technical problem. Google tends to be better for search results on non-technical items, current events, political topics etc

DDG has made their search less useful, is it less useful than google's trash when it comes to technical search results time will tell

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#265

Post by karmakurtisaani »

pembrook wrote: post #225
xlii wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been using Kagi for multiple months and due to advocacy I made few people pay for it too, but I’m completely disheartened by their business model. The whole explanation of the recent “we want to stay afloat” was weird, unexpected (price doubling with my usage, to 20$/mo) and felt untrue (ordinary user doing 30 searches per day?). I felt like it was written by Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler - made sense but also very…

I think this is why advertising will remain the default business model of the mainstream internet and search. HN might possibly be the wealthiest collection of people on the internet. And if we’re complaining about $10-20/month here, there’s certainly no hope for the mass market.

Your point is totally valid, but I think the folks over at r/fatfire are probably wealthier than us peasants here.

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#266

Post by elforce002 »

ReadCarlBarks wrote: post #174
elforce002 wrote: post #66

Brave search is quite good for development. I have +1 year using it and it's ok.

Look into the Goggles feature. It lets you create your own search engines with different lists of excluded or boosted sites.

I don't see anything like that using this feature.

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#267

Post by manmal »

brynx97 wrote: post #224
manmal wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to be warned before hitting a hard limit, in whichever way. E.g. warning emails ("You've reached 80% of your quota"), or a meter on the search page. From a higher POV, I like GPT-4's smaller time windows way better (x queries within 4 hour window). I hate to be "locked out" of search for a whole week. A few hours wouldn't feel that bad.

Kagi are very open about their policy to submit feedback, bugs, and feature requests at https://kagifeedback.org/ . I've not submitted anything Kagi Search, but I've submitted a few features and performance issues/bugs to their Orion feedback. I got replies from Vlad and Kagi employees within 12 hours. Feel free to suggest this as feedback I'd say...

GGP comment is from Vlad so I answered him here.

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#268

Post by palata »

freediver wrote: post #210
palata wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the anxiety, that's also something I hate with clouds (AWS and similar). Though for Kagi it's counting my searches, so it's not like a bot on the other side of the world will raise my bill. For all of those, I would like to be able to set an upper limit. Like "cut my service for the rest of the month if it costs more than X".

You can do that with Kagi, there is both a soft limit and hard limit you can set. Although we would like to go towards the future with no limits as soon as economics allow it.

Oh I did not know that. I have the "legacy premium" (not sure if that's the right name) left for a few months, I guess I'll see that when I transition to the newer pricing plan.

But it's great that Kagi has that feature!

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#269

Post by nunez »

DanHulton wrote: post #70

I debated bringing up Kagi at the top level here, since I already commented on it in a reply, but honestly I really want them to succeed and shit like this is why. It's a paid search service, and I'm honestly really happy with that distinction and what it entails. Being paid means that they can deliver on and support features that users can use to get the best results for them, without worrying how those features may…

I agree. I was skeptical to use Kagi at first, but since making the jump a few months ago, I'm never looking back.

Kagi gives you so much power over your search experience. I don't even have to use site:Reddit.com anymore to find non-SEO-optimized content. It's like using Google in the early 2000s!

Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results

#270

Post by dharmab »

remram wrote: post #38
dharmab wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kagi. See: https://help.kagi.com/kagi/features/search-operators.html https://help.kagi.com/kagi/features/filtering-results.html

$5/mo for 200 searches, $25/mo for unlimited? Loading more pages count as new search? Does anyone actually pay that? It looks like something a real search engine would post on April 1st.

The results I get with Kagi for researching technical topics are significantly better than I get from Google, so I can justify it as a professional expense.
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