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Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

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Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#21
post #8

Kagi. Just use Kagi. It is by far far far the best. Best money I spend, aside from Fastmail. https://kagi.com/

Anyone here who uses kagi in a language other than English? Specifically German? Is it any good?

Works well for me! Have been using Kagi for well over a year now. (I assume you’re talking about the German search results, not their German UI.)

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#22
post #8

Kagi. Just use Kagi. It is by far far far the best. Best money I spend, aside from Fastmail. https://kagi.com/

Anyone here who uses kagi in a language other than English? Specifically German? Is it any good?

German works great on Kagi, no problems at all.

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#23
> now that Google isn’t really Google anymore

I can't say I've noticed any changes about google search on desktop recently. Yes; there is an AI overview widget at the top of the page; but it's been there for at least a year.

Has anything changed about Google search results for you?

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#24
post #18

I must be the only person in this website who is happy with the AI Overview feature. It messes up sometimes (very rarely) but so do websites. And between ads, cookie popups, newsletter popups, notification permission popups, websites with a high Time to First Byte, and all the useless filler around the content, websites are a nightmare to browse. I would say that for almost all of my searches the AI Overview feature…

It no longer searches for me but tells me to search for what I’m looking for, which brings it back to itself, telling me to go search for what I’m looking for…

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#25

Kagi. Just use Kagi. It is by far far far the best. Best money I spend, aside from Fastmail. https://kagi.com/

What's your monthly usage, aprox.? Do you use Kagi for getting to pages you know of but doesn't want to type the whole URL for, eg. typing "Hacker news" in the URL bar instead of "news.ycombinator.com"?

I average 800-1000 searches per month and I don't generally search for places I know the URL for (usually only when I can't spell it)

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#26
post #23

> now that Google isn’t really Google anymore I can't say I've noticed any changes about google search on desktop recently. Yes; there is an AI overview widget at the top of the page; but it's been there for at least a year. Has anything changed about Google search results for you?

It did for me, I can no longer find any GitHub project. Duck duck returns them on first try. Absolutely ridiculous, couldn't believe my eyes when I finally realized that. I get a ton of ads and product placements on first couple pages. What I search for is literally, word for word, name of the repository and it's not ambiguous.

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#27
post #7

I switched to Kagi little over a year ago and couldn’t recommend it enough. The search results are actually what I’m searching for, there is AI for the occasions I want it (and only then), and it comes with nice extras like search personalization and a great translation app. Tried to live without it when my first year of subscription ran out, but I didn’t last long…

I've been a Kagi subscriber for several years now.

If you're questioning the AI features, know that I am only barely aware they exist. I have never, not even once, accidentally or otherwise, engaged the AI features without going out of my way to do so. I've never seen what their AI is like. I have no idea what it's for or why I'd want it.

It's beautiful. Kagi has AI I suppose, but it's over there and not in my face. I don't think I've ever seen an AI nag in the UI, but their UI itself is also over there and out of my way.

Thank you, Kagi, for staying politely the hell out of my way. I love you.

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#28

I don't get the hysteria against LLM here? Like LLM's are the best thing to happen for search engines. They are a huge step above traditional ones like google. So what that google uses LLM's as a supplementary tool for no cost? This really looks like some ideological thing evoking visceral emotions. If you really want the best search engine, ChatGPT with thinking mode enabled is by far the best search engine technolo…

The issue is that people produce content because they want visitors to their sites. If ChatGPT and Google just vacuum up content for AI summaries, people may stop producing that content. It really is, in the long-term, an existential issue for the web if search providers push people away from visiting websites.

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#29
post #26
post #23

> now that Google isn’t really Google anymore I can't say I've noticed any changes about google search on desktop recently. Yes; there is an AI overview widget at the top of the page; but it's been there for at least a year. Has anything changed about Google search results for you?

It did for me, I can no longer find any GitHub project. Duck duck returns them on first try. Absolutely ridiculous, couldn't believe my eyes when I finally realized that. I get a ton of ads and product placements on first couple pages. What I search for is literally, word for word, name of the repository and it's not ambiguous.

Im curious, what is your query?

Re: Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

#30
post #18

I must be the only person in this website who is happy with the AI Overview feature. It messes up sometimes (very rarely) but so do websites. And between ads, cookie popups, newsletter popups, notification permission popups, websites with a high Time to First Byte, and all the useless filler around the content, websites are a nightmare to browse. I would say that for almost all of my searches the AI Overview feature…

I hate it conceptually but in practice it often has what I need, and I can usually just scroll past it when I don’t
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