It seems duckduckgo removed all the operators like -, +, and, intitle, inurl and others
Wait, so it's not a bug? Is it some new limitation from the bing API they use?!
I noticed similar on Ecosia so this could be shanigans on Microsoft's end.
DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
41–50 of 341 posts
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#42Ah 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 whatever the fuck they want, and the only thing users can do is complain in vain.
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#43I actually just switched back to google yesterday after a really frustrating time trying to get double quotes working for filtering.
I'm super disappointed in DDGs changes the last few months. I wish them the best but I'm on the hunt for a new search engine.
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#44Things like this seem so arbitrarily hostile to intelligent people who just want to find what they're looking for in an efficient way. Why does this keep happening? Who benefits from these developments?
The same people who use such features are also on average - more likely to use ad blockers. - more likely to critically evaluate any advertising/propaganda they encounter. - more likely to use VPNs and other technology that makes them more difficult to track. - more likely to be "power users" of the service, thus consuming more resources than the average user. Many more points like these apply, but the bottom line is…
You forgot
- more likely to recommend your service to friends and family when they ask their power user friend which service to use.
A move like that is shortsighted at best, not good business sense.
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems to have been a while ago. Was swearing at it only a few days ago due to stupid results it was showing, while completely ignoring the "-" sign. Search term: solar panel array concrete flat -roof -roofs Notice how the majority of results still include either "roof" or "roofs" in it? Fucking useless. :( :( :( Had to switch to Kagi, which at least seems to honour the negative signs.
I'm not keen on paying for search, but this kind of behavior is exactly the marketing Kagi needs to sway me over.
Web search might be the most valuable single tool I use outside of my computer itself, or my vehicle.
If the only good option was paid, I would pay a lot. I think most other people would, too. But they'll keep using worse free options so long as those are passable.
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#46Things like this seem so arbitrarily hostile to intelligent people who just want to find what they're looking for in an efficient way. Why does this keep happening? Who benefits from these developments?
The same people who use such features are also on average - more likely to use ad blockers. - more likely to critically evaluate any advertising/propaganda they encounter. - more likely to use VPNs and other technology that makes them more difficult to track. - more likely to be "power users" of the service, thus consuming more resources than the average user. Many more points like these apply, but the bottom line is…
This is a bit cynical but not wrong. Twice now I have ended up in conversations about how I would "re do" search if I could that talked about whether or not you could sell people the value.
When I was at Blekko we had a tremendously enthusiastic librarian user base who loved being able to curate the sites searched. But product was so focused on ads, nobody seriously considered a paid service. (Libraries subscribe to all kinds of services for example)
Most users however would not even provide an email address which would allow them to elide spammy sites from their searches.
It was an interesting thing to observe.
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#47Ah 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…
> Those people already left Google to use DDG. Where are they going to go now?
Back to Google?
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#48Does no one here use searx?
I keep seeing Kagi being pushed and it seems suspicious as Kagi is a subscription based search engine that limits your searches to their paid tiers.
Kagi shillposting with their bot accounts?
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
The same people who use such features are also on average - more likely to use ad blockers. - more likely to critically evaluate any advertising/propaganda they encounter. - more likely to use VPNs and other technology that makes them more difficult to track. - more likely to be "power users" of the service, thus consuming more resources than the average user. Many more points like these apply, but the bottom line is…
You forgot - more likely to recommend your service to friends and family when they ask their power user friend which service to use. A move like that is shortsighted at best, not good business sense.
I think this one is really overrated. My family never asks my input on what to use; they always buy Apple stuff, inkjet printers with expensive ink subscription services, etc. If I try to talk to them about, for instance, getting a laser printer instead, it goes nowhere. Heck, just getting them to use Facebook Messenger to talk to me since I'm living on another continent is almost too much apparently.
In my experience, non-technical people don't ask power users what to use, because they'll get answers they don't want and conflict with all the slick marketing they've been brainwashed with. So instead, they'll frequently try to coerce their technical family members into buying the mass-market stuff they like instead, particularly iPhones.
Re: DuckDuckGo removed the ability to filter search results
#50Is there a decent search engine which still has filtering like this?
https://www.mojeek.com/ even has its own crawler