5 ms·

The free market will decide what's a valuable search result or not, and I trust the freedom and liberty of people over any kind of curated, mutated ranking syst

The free market will decide what's a valuable search result or not, and I trust the freedom and liberty of people over any kind of curated, mutated ranking system.

colinmhayes 5y ago
Is people choosing which search engine they use based off the results it returns not the free market in action?
- spoils19 5y ago
  It is not transparent what kind of curations take place to return the results. You cannot have a free market without transparency, and while DDG are announcing this now, they have no obligation to in the future. Previously the status quo was "we don't curate", now it's "we curate but announce it". What's the chance that they will no longer announce it in the future?
  - colinmhayes 5y ago
    > It is not transparent what kind of curations take place to return the results. This is true for all search engines because it's literally impossible to return even half decent results if everyone knows your algorithm. It'll just be pages and pages of SEO nonsense. If you believed for even a second that search engines can exist without curating you haven't been thinking very hard. Not curating would only ensure that you see nothing but propaganda.
    - spoils19 5y ago
      > you haven't been thinking very hard Please ensure you're following the HN Guidelines[1] when leaving replies :^) [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - ipaddr 5y ago
      Could it work? A search engine based on popularity is the basis of google 2004. What no one has done is a search engine where you can select who's version of what's popular to use. What do people in my area.. My age group.. My shared interest visit when they search 'eye blush'
  - orthecreedence 5y ago
    > You cannot have a free market without transparency I've not heard this before. So I need to know the wages of the workers, what the CEO had for breakfast, the favorite color of all employees, the inventory and sales, etc for every single company in order for it to be a free market? I'm not arguing that knowing these things would be bad but actually curious of the boundaries you would draw when you say "transparency" such that it would encompass the exact algorithms used in a privately-owned search engine.
    - ipaddr 5y ago
      The more mature a market the more you would know. Transparency material to the market transaction. Knowing what employees ate would rarely provide value to whatever transaction you have. Understanding their selection process for the content they provide to you would be. What the hotdog vendor dreamed of last night doesn't inform my buying decision like the fact that it fell on the floor earlier would.
      - orthecreedence 5y ago
        Maybe I want to know if the employees are all vegan or something before I support that company. I guess I'll frame the same question in a different context: if all needs are subjective, how do you objectively determine which information is important for a transaction?
- AnthonyMouse 5y ago
  Free markets require competition. Are there other search engines of similar quality that don't do this?
  - throwaway_23452 5y ago
deanCommie 5y ago
> I trust the freedom and liberty of people "Trust" is usually earned. On what basis have "people" earned your trust?

The free market will decide what's a valuable search result or not, and I trust the freedom and liberty of people over any kind of curated, mutated ranking system.

colinmhayes 5y ago

Is people choosing which search engine they use based off the results it returns not the free market in action?

spoils19 5y ago
It is not transparent what kind of curations take place to return the results. You cannot have a free market without transparency, and while DDG are announcing this now, they have no obligation to in the future. Previously the status quo was "we don't curate", now it's "we curate but announce it". What's the chance that they will no longer announce it in the future?
- colinmhayes 5y ago
  > It is not transparent what kind of curations take place to return the results. This is true for all search engines because it's literally impossible to return even half decent results if everyone knows your algorithm. It'll just be pages and pages of SEO nonsense. If you believed for even a second that search engines can exist without curating you haven't been thinking very hard. Not curating would only ensure that you see nothing but propaganda.
  - spoils19 5y ago
    > you haven't been thinking very hard Please ensure you're following the HN Guidelines[1] when leaving replies :^) [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    Could it work? A search engine based on popularity is the basis of google 2004. What no one has done is a search engine where you can select who's version of what's popular to use. What do people in my area.. My age group.. My shared interest visit when they search 'eye blush'
- orthecreedence 5y ago
  > You cannot have a free market without transparency I've not heard this before. So I need to know the wages of the workers, what the CEO had for breakfast, the favorite color of all employees, the inventory and sales, etc for every single company in order for it to be a free market? I'm not arguing that knowing these things would be bad but actually curious of the boundaries you would draw when you say "transparency" such that it would encompass the exact algorithms used in a privately-owned search engine.
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    The more mature a market the more you would know. Transparency material to the market transaction. Knowing what employees ate would rarely provide value to whatever transaction you have. Understanding their selection process for the content they provide to you would be. What the hotdog vendor dreamed of last night doesn't inform my buying decision like the fact that it fell on the floor earlier would.
    - orthecreedence 5y ago
      Maybe I want to know if the employees are all vegan or something before I support that company. I guess I'll frame the same question in a different context: if all needs are subjective, how do you objectively determine which information is important for a transaction?
AnthonyMouse 5y ago
Free markets require competition. Are there other search engines of similar quality that don't do this?
- throwaway_23452 5y ago

deanCommie 5y ago

> I trust the freedom and liberty of people "Trust" is usually earned. On what basis have "people" earned your trust?