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How I Use Kagi

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Re: How I Use Kagi

#21

Post by mossTechnician »

PokemonNoGo wrote: post #3

Do they still use Yandex? >I’ve been a happy Kagi user since early 2023 I was an unhappy Kagi user when I learnt it relied on Russian back ends fueling a war. Now I'm not a user anymore.

Kagi is still partnered with Yandex[0], but they removed a list of sources they used. When asked if the list could be restored, Vladimir Prelovac replied "Is there any particular reason you are asking for this? More context will help us better understand the need."[1]

[0]: https://kagifeedback.org/d/5445-reconsider-yandex-integratio...

[1]: https://kagifeedback.org/d/252-show-source-of-results/49

Re: How I Use Kagi

#23

Post by jwr »

EA-3167 wrote: post #18
jwr wrote: post #12

Unfortunately, Kagi works with Russian companies and pays them money, which in my book is a no-no. I do not want any of my money to contribute to the Russian economy in any way, because I know what is happening to people in Ukraine. (I was a Kagi subscriber, no more, because of this)

Wait until you hear about the EU! https://e360.yale.edu/digest/europe-russia-ukraine-war-natur... Hell, a Spanish company just violated export sanctions and sold a machine used to make artillery barrels to Russia, and the Spanish government just shrugged. I'm not sure why Kagi has to be squeaky clean down to the last dollar when our own governments don't even have to meaningfully enforce their own sanctions.

This kind of whataboutism is what leads to the current sad state of the world. One can look at any moral choice issue, say "but what about… [insert something here]" and then proceed to ignore it and do nothing.

I choose to take moral stands. Yes, it might be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I still choose to do so.

Having read the (rather disappointing) responses: all of them create some sort of artificial construct and result in doing nothing. I cannot do nothing.

Re: How I Use Kagi

#24

Post by tiagod »

I took a look at the linked block list[0]. There's a lot of junk in it, but I'm also seeing a lot of sites that have, in my opinion, pretty decent content.

My approach with Kagi is just to block SEO spam when it shows up in my results, but I don't think good SEO means it's a bad site with no useful results.

[0] https://paste.flamedfury.com/flamedfury-kagi-block-list

Re: How I Use Kagi

#25

Post by BlackjackCF »

J_McQuade wrote: post #4

I always feel really grotty about evangelising for products, but I switched to Kagi about six months ago and it really is a better experience. In almost all cases, the search results are as good as or better than Google, and I don't have to scroll through an increasing number of misleading ads to see them. I'm a happy customer. When I first switched, I would often click the button to run the search on google for quer…

I wasn’t really sure about paying for Kagi but I was convinced when I couldn’t find some meme video I saw only a year ago using Google, DDG, Bing, etc., but found it almost immediately using Kagi. I hadn’t realized how bad most search providers had gotten.

Re: How I Use Kagi

#26

Post by haiku2077 »

junon wrote: post #7
PokemonNoGo wrote: post #3

Do they still use Yandex? >I’ve been a happy Kagi user since early 2023 I was an unhappy Kagi user when I learnt it relied on Russian back ends fueling a war. Now I'm not a user anymore.

They have search results from Yandex among others, yes, and Yandex isn't really a Russian company anymore.

> Yandex isn't really a Russian company anymore

The Dutch owners sold Yandex to a group of Russian investors.

Re: How I Use Kagi

#27

Post by EA-3167 »

jwr wrote: post #23
EA-3167 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait until you hear about the EU! https://e360.yale.edu/digest/europe-russia-ukraine-war-natur... Hell, a Spanish company just violated export sanctions and sold a machine used to make artillery barrels to Russia, and the Spanish government just shrugged. I'm not sure why Kagi has to be squeaky clean down to the last dollar when our own governments don't even have to meaningfully enforce their own sanctions.

This kind of whataboutism is what leads to the current sad state of the world. One can look at any moral choice issue, say "but what about… [insert something here]" and then proceed to ignore it and do nothing. I choose to take moral stands. Yes, it might be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I still choose to do so. Having read the (rather disappointing) responses: all of them create some sort of artif…

Happily the state of the world isn't the result of recognizing the state of the world, and attempting to avoid hypocrisy. Instead the world is a complex system that defies easy discussions on social media, motivated by overly simplistic and selectively applied moralism.

For example I'm able to compare the impact on the world of Google, AdSense, etc... and Kagi's partial reliance on Yandex. Something tells me that's going to be taken as another case of "whataboutism" rather than realism.

Re: How I Use Kagi

#28

Post by barbazoo »

J_McQuade wrote: post #10
PokemonNoGo wrote: post #3

Do they still use Yandex? >I’ve been a happy Kagi user since early 2023 I was an unhappy Kagi user when I learnt it relied on Russian back ends fueling a war. Now I'm not a user anymore.

Also, the company is based in a country that has 'fueled' more wars in my lifetime than any other country has in the last 100 years. Definitely avoid.

I doubted this but it's true:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagi_(search_engine)

> Country of origin: USA

Re: How I Use Kagi

#29

Post by freedomben »

tiagod wrote: post #24

I took a look at the linked block list[0]. There's a lot of junk in it, but I'm also seeing a lot of sites that have, in my opinion, pretty decent content. My approach with Kagi is just to block SEO spam when it shows up in my results, but I don't think good SEO means it's a bad site with no useful results. [0] https://paste.flamedfury.com/flamedfury-kagi-block-list

Indeed, I despise SEO spammy sites and block them aggressively in Kagi, but I see many sites on there that do have good content, often paired with good SEO and lots of ads. I have blocked sites that have good content due to invasive ads before so I'm not one to cast stones, but I wouldn't blindly use this list as you're likely going to be cutting out some potentially good sources.

Re: How I Use Kagi

#30

Post by Tallain »

BlackjackCF wrote: post #25
J_McQuade wrote: post #4

I always feel really grotty about evangelising for products, but I switched to Kagi about six months ago and it really is a better experience. In almost all cases, the search results are as good as or better than Google, and I don't have to scroll through an increasing number of misleading ads to see them. I'm a happy customer. When I first switched, I would often click the button to run the search on google for quer…

I wasn’t really sure about paying for Kagi but I was convinced when I couldn’t find some meme video I saw only a year ago using Google, DDG, Bing, etc., but found it almost immediately using Kagi. I hadn’t realized how bad most search providers had gotten.

I'm curious because I go through this experience a little more often than I'd like to admit, and typically end up frustrated and without any results (admittedly without using Kagi, yet). Did you just search for a phrase from the video, or what did you do to find what you needed with Kagi?
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