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> Switch to other engines. DuckDuckGo, Brave Search are the ones I trust, and there's tons more. This feels important to me, and at this point it actually feel

> Switch to other engines. DuckDuckGo, Brave Search are the ones I trust, and there's tons more. This feels important to me, and at this point it actually feels like we have more choice than we have had in 15 years and we have a chance to change history. If you are one of the many who have noticed that Google has declined in recent years you can start by just changing to DDG, or even Bing as default. (Use Google as fallback if you want and see if you realize the same as me: their results are just as broken. If you don't, you can consider yourself lucky for now and go back to Google, but at least keep this in mind as they start heating your frog pot as well ;-). Do experiment with alternative engines: Kagi seems close to production ready now and search.marginalia.nu is just a delightful tour de force as to what can be done by a determined person!

OneTimePetes 5y ago
But why is there no methadon to slowly quit google? A search engine, that just appends to its results the first page of google results?
- vidarh 5y ago
  DDG is "close enough": Add "!g" to the search and you end up at Google. So I often use DDG first, and then fall back on Google afterwards. My search bar defaults to DDG. The many other shortcuts like that (e.g. !gi for google images, !b for bing, !gn for google news; and tons more) is a good incentive to stick to that default. Google still gets lots of searches from me, but the better DDG does, the less it'll happen.
  - Fnoord 5y ago
    DDG is mainly Bing, so you can just stop having/using !b
    - vidarh 5y ago
      They have very different interfaces, so there are times when !b is worthwhile. Not generally for the results, though.
Diggsey 5y ago
I use DDG by default, but sadly it's quite noticeably worse than Google, so I end up having to override it frequently :(
- shkkmo 5y ago
  I also use DDG by default. I only rarely go to google and more than half the time when I do, Google's results are no better. I find that usually adjusting my DDG query is more effective than trying Google.
  - adriand 5y ago
    I have a weird search FOMO thing where after I DDG something, I will often throw the !g into it to see the Google results for the same term, to make sure I got the "best" or most comprehensive result. And usually the DDG result was fine in comparison. But I'm finding it hard to trust it and stop the habit.
- mikro2nd 5y ago
  DDG has been my default for a few years, now, and on the very rare occasions I've been forced/mistakenly use Google, their results have been without exception worse. Much worse.
mgkimsal 5y ago
I've had bing as a default on mobile for a couple years now. And I have google, bing and ddg as defaults on different browsers (chrome, safari, ff, IIRC). Trying to mix it up decently, and bing for my mobile searches hasn't been bad at all. FWIW, people still often react weirdly when I tell them to 'bing' something. "When was that movie released?" "I dunno, just bing it". Reactions are usually confusion, mild amusement, but sometimes I've had some weird aggressive/anger issues emerge when I've suggested someone use bing. Strange...
wombatpm 5y ago
There is Neeva. No ads, private paid search. Been trying their beta and really loving it.

OneTimePetes 5y ago

But why is there no methadon to slowly quit google? A search engine, that just appends to its results the first page of google results?

vidarh 5y ago
DDG is "close enough": Add "!g" to the search and you end up at Google. So I often use DDG first, and then fall back on Google afterwards. My search bar defaults to DDG. The many other shortcuts like that (e.g. !gi for google images, !b for bing, !gn for google news; and tons more) is a good incentive to stick to that default. Google still gets lots of searches from me, but the better DDG does, the less it'll happen.
- Fnoord 5y ago
  DDG is mainly Bing, so you can just stop having/using !b
  - vidarh 5y ago
    They have very different interfaces, so there are times when !b is worthwhile. Not generally for the results, though.

Diggsey 5y ago

I use DDG by default, but sadly it's quite noticeably worse than Google, so I end up having to override it frequently :(

shkkmo 5y ago
I also use DDG by default. I only rarely go to google and more than half the time when I do, Google's results are no better. I find that usually adjusting my DDG query is more effective than trying Google.
- adriand 5y ago
  I have a weird search FOMO thing where after I DDG something, I will often throw the !g into it to see the Google results for the same term, to make sure I got the "best" or most comprehensive result. And usually the DDG result was fine in comparison. But I'm finding it hard to trust it and stop the habit.
mikro2nd 5y ago
DDG has been my default for a few years, now, and on the very rare occasions I've been forced/mistakenly use Google, their results have been without exception worse. Much worse.

mgkimsal 5y ago

I've had bing as a default on mobile for a couple years now. And I have google, bing and ddg as defaults on different browsers (chrome, safari, ff, IIRC). Trying to mix it up decently, and bing for my mobile searches hasn't been bad at all. FWIW, people still often react weirdly when I tell them to 'bing' something. "When was that movie released?" "I dunno, just bing it". Reactions are usually confusion, mild amusement, but sometimes I've had some weird aggressive/anger issues emerge when I've suggested someone use bing. Strange...

wombatpm 5y ago

There is Neeva. No ads, private paid search. Been trying their beta and really loving it.