4 ms·

In 2017 who’s still using Yahoo anyway for their search engine?

neonhomer 9y ago
I was going to ask the same thing. But also why are people still using Google? I've been using DuckDuckGo for years and only use Google when I'm forced to (like in Chrome on iOS).
- flavor8 9y ago
  DDG's fine for some kinds of searches, but for search involving you as context (which can be useful) it is obviously not useful.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  Because fairly frequently, I'll search for something on DDG, not find what I was expecting, and try on Google as a backup. And because in many people's minds, Google is search.
  - forapurpose 9y ago
    I thought the same thing, then I realized there was a significant selection bias: I was only looking at events where half the hypothesis (DDG fails & Google succeeds) is true. For example, how does DDG perform when Google fails?
    - khedoros1 9y ago
      That's true, but I wasn't thinking in that direction. I was just trying to answer "why are people still using Google?". But honestly, if Google doesn't have it (down below whichever ad-driven first results I have to skip), it's a good bet that I'm not going to find it on other search engines either, unless some specific site indexes its own content better than the search engines do (archive.org comes to mind, for some things). Of course, this is all colored by my search style and the topics I'm usually looking for information on.
    - jacksmith21006 9y ago
      If Google fails doubt it will be found on other choices. I will post something on a smaller site and Google will pick it up while the other search engines will not. So for me just easy choice is to use Google.
  - thomastjeffery 9y ago
    Put a !g in the front of your search. DuckDuckGo is awesome.
    - khedoros1 9y ago
      Suppose I might as well configure my browser to use that pattern, instead of going directly to Google search, too. That would make it a bit more convenient to remember.
      - thomastjeffery 9y ago
        !g google !gi google images !define the free dictionary !r reddit There are a lot more, and I find them quite useful.
    - neonhomer 9y ago
      The one I use all the time is !m for Google Maps.
  - neonhomer 9y ago
    Can you give an example? I've seen this comment before but never have an issue with DDG.
- bigleagueposter 9y ago
  I support google because they are enemies of microsoft/apple/facebook.
  - bigbugbag 9y ago
    You are deeply mistaken if you really think those are enemies. First apple is a hardware vendor of overpriced gadgets, totally unrelated to google market which is an advertising network. Second the ship has long sailed on the feud between Google and Facebook, they now have ceased fighting and are each back on focusing on their own thing. Do you have a recent example of google fighting microsoft ? heck even apple was friend with microsoft behind the scene, the fight was just for show. Remember how bill gates gave money to help apple stay afloat ?
    - bigleagueposter 9y ago
      Google is moving stuff from the Microsoft controlled desktop to the browser.
      - bigbugbag 9y ago
        What are you referring to ? google docs happened a while ago and it's been some time since microsoft has started moving its office suite to the cloud with office365. Actually microsoft has been moving from the desktop to cloud for a few years now.
    - jacksmith21006 9y ago
      Two mobile platforms Android and iOS and you think Google does not compete against Apple? Tell that to Tim Cooks high school https://9to5google.com/2016/06/20/chromebooks-taking-over-macbooks-in-apple-tim-cook-high-school/ https://9to5google.com/2016/06/20/chromebooks-taking-over-ma... At Apple CEO Tim Cook's old high school, they are selling their ...
- 2bitencryption 9y ago
  asking why people "still use Google" is like asking why people "still drink water".
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  Because the vast majority of users never change the default. Among the rest a significant part has an habit and it is harder to unlearn something than learn something new.
- recursive 9y ago
  Because it works better.
bigbugbag 9y ago
You're missing the point, yahoo needed to be default engine in Firefox to help with selling itself at a certain price tag, that's about it.

I was going to ask the same thing. But also why are people still using Google? I've been using DuckDuckGo for years and only use Google when I'm forced to (like in Chrome on iOS).

flavor8 9y ago
DDG's fine for some kinds of searches, but for search involving you as context (which can be useful) it is obviously not useful.
khedoros1 9y ago
Because fairly frequently, I'll search for something on DDG, not find what I was expecting, and try on Google as a backup. And because in many people's minds, Google is search.
- forapurpose 9y ago
  I thought the same thing, then I realized there was a significant selection bias: I was only looking at events where half the hypothesis (DDG fails & Google succeeds) is true. For example, how does DDG perform when Google fails?
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    That's true, but I wasn't thinking in that direction. I was just trying to answer "why are people still using Google?". But honestly, if Google doesn't have it (down below whichever ad-driven first results I have to skip), it's a good bet that I'm not going to find it on other search engines either, unless some specific site indexes its own content better than the search engines do (archive.org comes to mind, for some things). Of course, this is all colored by my search style and the topics I'm usually looking for information on.
  - jacksmith21006 9y ago
    If Google fails doubt it will be found on other choices. I will post something on a smaller site and Google will pick it up while the other search engines will not. So for me just easy choice is to use Google.
- thomastjeffery 9y ago
  Put a !g in the front of your search. DuckDuckGo is awesome.
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    Suppose I might as well configure my browser to use that pattern, instead of going directly to Google search, too. That would make it a bit more convenient to remember.
    - thomastjeffery 9y ago
      !g google !gi google images !define the free dictionary !r reddit There are a lot more, and I find them quite useful.
  - neonhomer 9y ago
    The one I use all the time is !m for Google Maps.
- neonhomer 9y ago
  Can you give an example? I've seen this comment before but never have an issue with DDG.
bigleagueposter 9y ago
I support google because they are enemies of microsoft/apple/facebook.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  You are deeply mistaken if you really think those are enemies. First apple is a hardware vendor of overpriced gadgets, totally unrelated to google market which is an advertising network. Second the ship has long sailed on the feud between Google and Facebook, they now have ceased fighting and are each back on focusing on their own thing. Do you have a recent example of google fighting microsoft ? heck even apple was friend with microsoft behind the scene, the fight was just for show. Remember how bill gates gave money to help apple stay afloat ?
  - bigleagueposter 9y ago
    Google is moving stuff from the Microsoft controlled desktop to the browser.
    - bigbugbag 9y ago
      What are you referring to ? google docs happened a while ago and it's been some time since microsoft has started moving its office suite to the cloud with office365. Actually microsoft has been moving from the desktop to cloud for a few years now.
  - jacksmith21006 9y ago
    Two mobile platforms Android and iOS and you think Google does not compete against Apple? Tell that to Tim Cooks high school https://9to5google.com/2016/06/20/chromebooks-taking-over-macbooks-in-apple-tim-cook-high-school/ https://9to5google.com/2016/06/20/chromebooks-taking-over-ma... At Apple CEO Tim Cook's old high school, they are selling their ...
2bitencryption 9y ago
asking why people "still use Google" is like asking why people "still drink water".
bigbugbag 9y ago
Because the vast majority of users never change the default. Among the rest a significant part has an habit and it is harder to unlearn something than learn something new.
recursive 9y ago
Because it works better.

bigbugbag 9y ago

You're missing the point, yahoo needed to be default engine in Firefox to help with selling itself at a certain price tag, that's about it.