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If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

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Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#271

Post by tluyben2 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #269
tluyben2 wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to use Bing in China ; the things are search for are not censored, but it works as well as Altavista does begin 2000; 10 pages of spam and then maybe stack overflow. I downloaded actual manuals like in the 80s to cope. I created [0] just to be able to find things faster locally when in China (last time was December 2019 though). It is shocking how competitors are that bad really. [0] https://git2pdf.com/

I used bing while in China as well, it worked ok for what I needed. Much better than baidu where every image search for any innocuous term tended to bring up a bunch of porn.

Yeah, baidu was even worse. I asked my Chinese tech colleagues how the hell they got anything done at all with baidu and they said they just read manuals and don’t search. This was hardware and embedded, so cannot speak for other disciplines.

And yes, I recognise your name from previous posts; you spent quite a lot of time in China right? I was in Suzhou for about 4 years. And after that HK for 2.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#272

Post by IncRnd »

Nextgrid wrote: post #215
passerby1 wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where should the profit come from for a search-oriented product/business?

Users? Imagine that every Internet user pays just one dollar a month. That's still billions worth of revenue, and it can be segmented further such as basic features available for free and more advanced users (such as large-scale API access) can pay more.

There isn't a single scenario for any product or service anywhere that will get every Internet user to pay a monthly fee - not even for 1¢ a month.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#274

Post by seanmcdirmid »

tluyben2 wrote: post #271
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used bing while in China as well, it worked ok for what I needed. Much better than baidu where every image search for any innocuous term tended to bring up a bunch of porn.

Yeah, baidu was even worse. I asked my Chinese tech colleagues how the hell they got anything done at all with baidu and they said they just read manuals and don’t search. This was hardware and embedded, so cannot speak for other disciplines. And yes, I recognise your name from previous posts; you spent quite a lot of time in China right? I was in Suzhou for about 4 years. And after that HK for 2.

I spent 9 years in Beijing. The irony being that I would use google at work (Microsoft) and Bing at home.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#275

Post by DeathArrow »

1 changing is difficult

2 some people depend on Google services

3 there aren't too many alternatives

4 alternatives that exist are not integrated in the way Google services are

That being said, it amazes me how no good search engines exist. By good I mean relevant results and less poisoning with advertising. It shouldn't be an impossible undertaking. Probably no one could find business sense in a decent search engine. If that is the case, I wonder if is possible to make a community backed search engine, similar to how Wikipedia works.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#276

Post by cloutchaser »

kauguste281 wrote: post #65

Google sucks compared to Google from years ago. It's still vastly superior to the modern alternatives. It doesn't help that almost all alternatives out there are just Bing with different window dressing, so going through alternatives is just annoying as they have all the same holes in the search results. Another big issue is that everybody just tries to copy Google. I don't need Google in less good, I want to see som…

> Youtube-style recommendations for websites

Reddit?

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#277

Post by ornornor »

beebeepka wrote: post #268
ornornor wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is like taking small dose of drugs for fun, for sure it won't kill you immediately but it eventually will as people can hardly resist the temptation. Very debatable.

No fun allowed. Or the implication is taking drugs for anything but recreation won't kill you. I need more guidance!

Taking drugs for fun won’t necessarily make you an addict or kill you.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#278

Post by tonyedgecombe »

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #139
zargon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Google is an actively hostile experience. Try it without adblock and get a taste of how most people get treated by Google. And for the search results, Kagi is already better for 90% of my queries. It's much more difficult now to build a competitive search engine, but saying it's impossible and discussions should be banned is toxic. (And already basically proven wrong with existing competing search engines.)

Even my grandparents figured out how to scroll by the ads at the top of Google search. Actively hostile is a bit much.

I don't think my parents would be able to distinguish between the ads and natural listings.

Re: If Google sucks then why is everyone still using it?

#280

Post by BeFlatXIII »

cloutchaser wrote: post #276
kauguste281 wrote: post #65

Google sucks compared to Google from years ago. It's still vastly superior to the modern alternatives. It doesn't help that almost all alternatives out there are just Bing with different window dressing, so going through alternatives is just annoying as they have all the same holes in the search results. Another big issue is that everybody just tries to copy Google. I don't need Google in less good, I want to see som…

> Youtube-style recommendations for websites Reddit?

Only so long as old Reddit remains intact.
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