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Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

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Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#21
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's absolutely no need for JavaScript on a page that has a text input and two buttons and that has worked without JS for three decades. Given Google's reputation for privacy and the constant attempts at selling their users out, it's fair to assume that the reason they're requiring JavaScript is not noble.

Okay. But is it evil?

Yes

Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#22
post #10
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Always has been.

If you had to estimate percentage of the web could exist without losing functionality without using JavaScript?

If you had to estimate the percentage of the malicious web without JavaScript.

Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#23
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is JavaScript is now evil?

There's absolutely no need for JavaScript on a page that has a text input and two buttons and that has worked without JS for three decades. Given Google's reputation for privacy and the constant attempts at selling their users out, it's fair to assume that the reason they're requiring JavaScript is not noble.

> There's absolutely no need for JavaScript on a page that has a text input and two buttons

The whole web is evil then. Hacker news has JavaScript for simple upvote buttons, is it also evil?

Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#24
Just tested (ignoring AI search engines, non-english, non-free):

Search engines which require JavaScript:

Google, Bing, Ecosia, Yandex, Qwant, Gibiru, Presearch, Seekr, Swisscows, Yep, Openverse, Dogpile, Waldo

Search engines which do not require JavaScript:

DuckDuckGo, Yahoo Search, Brave Search, Startpage, AOL Search, giveWater, Mojeek

Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#25
To be fair, if my search engine is anything to go on, about 0.5-1% of the requests I get are from human sources. The rest are from bots, and not like people who haven't found I have an API, but bots that are attempting to poison Google or Bing's query suggestions (even though I'm not backed by either). From what I've heard from other people running search engines, it looks the same everywhere.

I don't know what Google's ratio of human to botspam is, but given how much of a payday it would be if anyone were to succeed, I can imagine they're serving their fair number of automated requests.

Requiring a headless browser to automate the traffic makes the abuse significantly more expensive.

Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#28
post #2

How else are you going to load a hideously incorrect AI summary block without your initial page latency being through the roof?

Iframes lazy

Object content as lazy

Embed lazy

Image lazy

Link rel=import (not support that widely though)

Heck if you wanted to get REALLY cute you go use multipart-mixed-replace headers.

Or SSE

Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#29
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's absolutely no need for JavaScript on a page that has a text input and two buttons and that has worked without JS for three decades. Given Google's reputation for privacy and the constant attempts at selling their users out, it's fair to assume that the reason they're requiring JavaScript is not noble.

Okay. But is it evil?

It's a well intentioned bolt on for adding reactivity without reloading the page, but it's been hijacked by the ad industrial complex to keep tabs on your behavior for people who do not have your best interests in mind. that usage of it, I would say, qualifies for a weak definition of evil.

Re: Google begins requiring JavaScript for Google Search

#30
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you had to estimate percentage of the web could exist without losing functionality without using JavaScript?

Just fyi the entire browsing and checkout process of Amazon.com works fine without JavaScript, discovering that radicalized me against so called web apps. it just takes actually reading the html spec and maintaining state in the querystring or via session cookie. Latency can be lower than the monstrosities people build with react in the right circumstances.

My phones have had JavaScript off by default for years. I'm amazed by how many sites work fine and are pleasurable to use.
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