Interweb searching alternatives

[Sam Vimes]

I've been using the Interweb since it was released to the public in the early 90s. One of the most frequently used 'tools' is the Search Engine, but overtime I've found that its become devalued in its usefulness because companies like Google, Microsoft and others want to monitize its use. So you get more ads and irrelevant search results. This is because companies will pay the likes of Google to be higher up the list of results given to you plus insert ads

Now the current search engines used by these companies are going to be replaced with AI Engines producing results, in my opinion, the accuracy of which are going to decline.

The other point I want to make is that Google is the dominant search engine because they pay hardware and software vendors to make it the default choice of browser and search engine. Not many people know that the can change these or can even be bothered to do so.

Personally I use Firefox and have been using DuckDuckGo as the search engine..... its more private than Google although its based on MS's Bing. Recently though even DuckDuckGo has been pushing AI summaries at me which I don't need or want.

So if you use DuckDuckGo as your search engine you can replace it with the link below and get no AI interference :=

%s at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

noai.duckduckgo.com

If you want to see what Google search looked like in the early days and get no AI and pushy ads then take a look at this web site and if you like it you can replace your current search engine accordingly. Personally I found it much faster to use as well.

&udm=14 | the disenshittification Konami code

A quick way to get an AI-free search without any extra work.

udm14.com

 

[otherclive]

Well over a year ago I got really fed up with BING’s AI introduction and went over to DUCKDUCKGO, and occasionally still use Google. But recently Google has introduced AI which always comes at the top of the list of results. I tend to scroll on down to the search results.

For anyone interested in learning more about AI I can recommend Nigel Toon’s book “How AI thinks”. Only £9 in paperback.
Nigel Toon founded Graphcore a successful UK tech company but one that could not compete with the likes of NVIDIA, and has now been bought by Softbank.

 

[Jcloughie]

I tend to stick with Google more out of laziness, I do not mind the AI, and have seen some useful summaries as well as some not so good stuff. But then it is in its early days.

I like that it appears at the top so it is easy to skip if you don’t want it. Google could make it clearer that it is derived using AI than they do.

I think I have learnt to ignore the adds. But even Google needs an income. And yes, it is important to understand that those top results are sponsored.

For me, to use other search engines would mean needing to learn how they work. This is where my laziness pops up.

John

 

[Beachball]

I have been using Google search for some years now DuckDuckGo , tried Microsoft and now beginning like Opera Browser .

 

[otherclive]

I tend to stick with Google more out of laziness, I do not mind the AI, and have seen some useful summaries as well as some not so good stuff. But then it is in its early days.

I like that it appears at the top so it is easy to skip if you don’t want it. Google could make it clearer that it is derived using AI than they do.

I think I have learnt to ignore the adds. But even Google needs an income. And yes, it is important to understand that those top results are sponsored.

For me, to use other search engines would mean needing to learn how they work. This is where my laziness pops up.

John

Google could not make it much clearer as the first thing you see is a blue starlike shape and the words “AI Overview” plus on the rhs you can press to obtain a guide to using the AI features.

 

[Jcloughie]

Google could not make it much clearer as the first thing you see is a blue starlike shape and the words “AI Overview” plus on the rhs you can press to obtain a guide to using the AI features.

I think there is room for more improvement, (colour, text size, font), though it is now better than it was recently when, instead of stating ‘AI overview’. It ended with tiny text stating it was derived using AI.

I don’t agree that the ‘learn more’, with three dots, is as clear as it could be. But you make my point. Both presentation and content are improving. Which I am happy with as otherwise we just stand still. But clarity and transparency are important in my opinion.


John