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Is it just me or do all search engines feel soooo bad these days? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

239 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I suspect that this is the direct result of AI generated content just overwhelming any real content.

I tried ddg, google, bing, quant, and none of them really help me find information I want these days.

Perplexity seems to work but I don't like the idea of AI giving me "facts" since they are mostly based on other AI posts

ETA: someone suggested SearXNG and after using it a bit it seems to be much better compared to ddg and the rest.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Kagi isn't free

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

The search problem is largely due to not being the actual customer.

Look at me. I’m the customer now.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If I use ublock or whoogle I may not be customer. But the customer wont get anything from me anyway.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And you won't get good search results in exchange.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Same results as any other metasearch engine, like kagi.

[–] Imgonnatrythis 9 points 1 month ago

Neither is beer

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

If it's free then you're the product

And if you're the product then there's an interest to keep you on the site and show you ads which works best if the first result isn't the correct one and you need to scroll or even go to page two

It's literally the reason why Google got so much worse that they wanted to show more ads to users which wouldn't work if the best result is always the first

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (2 children)

If you think paying means you aren't still the product, I have news for you.

I don't need my search history tied directly to a means of payment, and not because I search for illicit stuff, but because I don't need an advertising profile built on me that is absolutely tied to me now, because I paid for it.

If Kagi doesn't turn out to be selling that info in a year or two, I'll eat a bug.

[–] babybus 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Exactly. A paid search engine is a privacy nightmare, and you have zero guarantees that they don't monetize you one way or another in addition to the subscription fee.

[–] Imgonnatrythis 2 points 1 month ago

You want to compare the hard evidence on abuse between paid search engines and unpaid search engines? I'm happy to work through that data with you.

[–] Imgonnatrythis 3 points 1 month ago

I pay anonymously through crypto accounts. It's easy and I can open new Kagi accounts if I want. I'm saving a beetle for you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I'm a shitty product because I block any ad that tries to display on my browser.