5 ms·

Google was immediately better then anything else from day one. Google was launched in Fall of 1997. In January 98 is when I started using it and it was hands do

Google was immediately better then anything else from day one. Google was launched in Fall of 1997. In January 98 is when I started using it and it was hands down better then crawlers or any other search engine.

siggen 8y ago
I fear all we have now is anecdotal evidence. :-) In my case, it was a gradual conversion to Google from Altavista than something immediate. So, funny thing: Back then, if one search engine didn't have what you were looking for, you would try another. Now, if Google doesn't have what you are looking for, where do you go? Does it mean the answer does not exist on the Internet? Do you try Bing or Duck?
- steelframe 8y ago
  Duck is Bing. https://www.quora.com/How-is-the-Bing-API-used-by-DuckDuckGo https://www.quora.com/How-is-the-Bing-API-used-by-DuckDuckGo There are effectively only two competitive search engines in the U.S. and European markets today. In those markets, Bing is the only market pressure keeping Google honest.
  - irrational 8y ago
    Did Duck Duck Go use Google previously? I thought when I first started using it years ago it was using google on the back end.
  - scarmig 8y ago
    DDG is just a whitelabeled Bing? That's interesting.
    - kinkrtyavimoodh 8y ago
      There are only three major worldwide English language indexes—Google, Bing and Yandex. For all the praise DDG gets here, it couldn't exist without Bing.
- mzs 8y ago
  yandex is what I try second
philliphaydon 8y ago
I think I started using the internet in 1997, and used Altavista because the results were better than Google. Wasn't until ~2000 that I began to find results on Google faster than Altavista. It was probably subjective but IMO google wasn't better initially, but it did end up being the best. Even tho I use bing or ddg, Google still has the best search engine.
InclinedPlane 8y ago
It was also an order of magnitude faster (a fraction of a second for results vs. several seconds).

siggen 8y ago

I fear all we have now is anecdotal evidence. :-) In my case, it was a gradual conversion to Google from Altavista than something immediate. So, funny thing: Back then, if one search engine didn't have what you were looking for, you would try another. Now, if Google doesn't have what you are looking for, where do you go? Does it mean the answer does not exist on the Internet? Do you try Bing or Duck?

steelframe 8y ago
Duck is Bing. https://www.quora.com/How-is-the-Bing-API-used-by-DuckDuckGo https://www.quora.com/How-is-the-Bing-API-used-by-DuckDuckGo There are effectively only two competitive search engines in the U.S. and European markets today. In those markets, Bing is the only market pressure keeping Google honest.
- irrational 8y ago
  Did Duck Duck Go use Google previously? I thought when I first started using it years ago it was using google on the back end.
- scarmig 8y ago
  DDG is just a whitelabeled Bing? That's interesting.
  - kinkrtyavimoodh 8y ago
    There are only three major worldwide English language indexes—Google, Bing and Yandex. For all the praise DDG gets here, it couldn't exist without Bing.
mzs 8y ago
yandex is what I try second

philliphaydon 8y ago

I think I started using the internet in 1997, and used Altavista because the results were better than Google. Wasn't until ~2000 that I began to find results on Google faster than Altavista. It was probably subjective but IMO google wasn't better initially, but it did end up being the best. Even tho I use bing or ddg, Google still has the best search engine.

InclinedPlane 8y ago

It was also an order of magnitude faster (a fraction of a second for results vs. several seconds).