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Scroogle, Privacy-First Search Engine, Shuts Down for Good
- eli 15y agoIt was a just a proxy to Google, no?
- schiffern 15y agoIt also stripped out Google's click-tracking, and didn't put your search terms in the Referrer header. They claimed to not keep persistent server logs, but there's no way to verify that.
- BCM43 15y agoAs a possible replacement: http://googlesharing.net/ http://googlesharing.net/
- Hrundi 15y agoAt least until Google finds out: From http://www.google.com/permissions/#tab2 http://www.google.com/permissions/#tab2 We cannot approve the use of Internet domain names that use the word “Google” or some variation of “Google”. For example, we would not approve a site called googleXYZ.com or gogggles.com.
- slowpoke 15y agoThat's pretty stupid. Is Google seriously claiming rights on any possible variation of the word "google", including misspellings that form other words, like goggles?
- Hrundi 15y agoA couple of friends once registered a domain called Googirl, back in 2003/4. It was meant to provide a search engine for... well... girl pictures. They had it sleeping for a year until they went full throttle and released the site. It became very profitable, and then one day, Google dropped their hammer on them. I can only imagine this being just one of many stories about this. Microsoft did the same with MikeRoweSoft.com (fascinating story if you care to take a look)
- Hrundi 15y agoWhat do you know... the domain is alive and kicking (although it wasn't the plain dot com I was talking about, it had a country code at the end. Both are alive) Maybe Google relaxed their stance? Still, I wouldn't bother having the word Google in a domain, just in case.
- karlzt 15y agoNot available for Firefox 10.0.2 :(
- ordinary 15y agoIt takes a bit of effort, but it can be made compatible with newer Firefoxes. It requires unzipping the xpi file and modifying the install.rdf file: <em:maxVersion>10.*</em:maxVersion> Repackage (xpi files are just zip files with a different extension) and install away. I've been running it on Firefox 8 and up for months without trouble.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- untog 15y agoI absolutely understand people's objections to Google's tracking, but the answer is not a hack like Scroogle. If you disagree with Google, don't use their services- simple as that. Use a competing search service, e-mail provider, etc. and don't just hide behind a proxy like Scroogle.
- pconf 15y ago>but the answer is not a hack like Scroogle You sir, are an astroturfer. Scroogle was a proxy, that is all it was. Scroogle performed nothing more than many other firewalls, content filters and proxies, including TOR, do by default. >If you disagree with Google, don't use their services And how exactly do you do that when all Android phones, gmail, doubleclick, and several dozen other services you don't even know you use send your information to Google? Where is the EFF when you need them?
- tagawa 15y agoAndroid phones: F-Droid ( http://fdroid.org/ http://fdroid.org/ ) is a great resource for FOSS applications, all installable without going through the Android market. The F-Droid app can download updates for you. GMail: You seriously can't think of a non-GMail email service? (cough http://fastmail.fm http://fastmail.fm ) DoubleClick: Ghostery ( http://www.ghostery.com/ http://www.ghostery.com/ ) has extensions for all major desktop browsers and iOS. Yes, there are several other services. Yes, it's difficult to find alternatives to them, but it's not impossible. And if you really can't, you can build it yourself. And if you're not keen/able, let the HN community know - they love a gap in the market.
- ronnoch 15y agoWhat if you object to being tracked, but also realize that no other search engine comes close to matching Google's results?
- untog 15y agoTough. Google's results are, in part, created from their tracking. If you object to the tracking then you shouldn't use the output of said tracking.
- enormousfaggot 15y agoReplacement: http://duckduckgo.com/privacy.html http://duckduckgo.com/privacy.html
- nyar 15y agoThat's Bing. That is not a replacement. It is an alternative.
- ronnoch 15y agoThe two best alternatives I've found: https://ixquick.com/eng/ https://ixquick.com/eng/ https://startpage.com/eng/ https://startpage.com/eng/
- lunarscape 15y agoAren't they the same? It says "Startpage by ixquick" for example on the Startpage About page.
- ronnoch 15y agoI believe Ixquick blends results from several search engines, like an aggregator. Startpage is by the same people but only includes Google results. It also has some Google-specific features like date search. The difference is pretty small though.
- yabai 15y agoSad news. RIP scroogle...
- pconf 15y agoAnyone can create a Scroogle replacement without a whole lot of effort. Scroogle died IMO because of their own technical and political shortcomings, not because of anything Google did. IXquick and DuckDuckGo are already viable replacements, but there's plenty of room for improvement. First it should be a better distributed service, not just 6 servers. Second it should be located outside of the USA or any other country without sufficient regulatory protections from predatory corporations such as Google, Yahoo and SOPA supporting organizations. Perhaps PirateBay, the EFF, or another consumer-oriented entity might be interested in sponsoring such an anonymizing service?
- rhubarbquid 15y ago> Perhaps PirateBay, the EFF, or another consumer-oriented entity might be interested in sponsoring such an anonymizing service? They do, or did in the case of EFF, it's called Tor.
- slowpoke 15y agoTPB runs their own VPN provider, https://www.ipredator.se/ https://www.ipredator.se/
- gee_totes 15y agoDoes anyone know if there is a mirror of namebase.org up somewhere?
- redthrowaway 15y agoPerhaps tangential to the story at hand, but I've actually begun to notice Google's tracking and I have to say, I like it. My default browser is Chrome, and I'm always signed in to Google. I'm not sure to what extent Google takes text on pages recently viewed into account when searching, but I've noticed that obscure terms on a page I'm reading tend to show up very highly in the omnibox suggestions as I look them up. I would be surprised if this wasn't intentional, and I'm also at a loss to explain how it's anything but good. Google has, lately, gotten very good at intuiting what I want to look for. It's the first time since Panda that I've noticed a marked improvement in relevance and quality in Search, and it makes both Chrome and Search more attractive.
- nitrogen 15y agoI'm also at a loss to explain how it's anything but good. The concern is always what happens if this information gets hacked, stolen, sold, subpoenaed, or NSL'd.
- redthrowaway 15y agoOne by one: Hacked/stolen: anything I wouldn't want in the hands of criminals goes through ssl. If they've broken that, Google tracking me is the least of my worries. Sold: I'm comfortable with advertisers being able to target me. If they've narrowed down their target market by videos viewed on motherless, I'd be damned curious to see the ads. Subpoenaed/NSL'd: were I to engage in any activities that would give me trouble in the event of LE attention, I'd be doing it through TOR from a coffeeshop, on a throwaway netbook running Truecrypt with the juicy stuff in a hidden volume. That's not to suggest that only criminals need fear the security/justice apparatus, but if I were doing anything that could draw unwanted attention I'd take precautions. Back when I was raiding with anon, before it had anything to do with political motivations, I was paranoid about how easily I could be doxed and took extreme measures to ensure I was unfindable. Now, I'm pretty open about most of my online activities. If knowing my interests lets Google provide better services, then they have my blessing. Should I decide to engage in activities that would run me afoul of powerful organizations, I'll take precautions. You won't find many stronger proponents than I of the need for anonymous communication, but I don't extend that to all communication. I'm cool with getting fed ads in order to support the services I like, and if data collection means fewer ads or better services, them I'm on board.