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Search engines are important, but they’re funded quite well with ads, so why would anybody go through the effort to make it a public utility?
by dymk 4y ago
Search engines are important, but they’re funded quite well with ads, so why would anybody go through the effort to make it a public utility?
- kevinventullo 4y agoI suppose if the government felt that ads-supported search engines had such misaligned incentives that it would be net beneficial for society to create one without such incentives, then that might serve as a justification. I don’t actually think this is plausible, just making an analogy with say private fire departments.
- autoexec 4y agoSo that search engines work. Google search has been crippled by ads. Sometimes people just want nice stuff and a search engine that wasn't designed to mislead (https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/20/9768350/google-ads-search-results-ofcom https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/20/9768350/google-ads-searc...) and where the amount of money paid doesn't dictate what is easy to find would be a great asset to everybody. No company has risen to give us a powerful search engine that isn't also a cesspool of marketing bullshit so it would be reasonable for people to seek an option that serves the interests of the public.