BWPanda, to DuckDuckGo

Decided to try @Mojeek as my default #SearchEngine (switching from #DuckDuckGo). I like that they have their own crawler, instead of just using #Microsoft's results. Let's see how this goes...

boeckli, to DuckDuckGo

Not that anybody asked:

I use @protonmail for email services, #DuckDuckGo for all online search, #VPN (also by Proton) is always on for both my phone and computer. I have deleted my #Facebook, #Instagram, #WhatsApp and #Twitter (#X?) permanently.

#Mastodon is my #SocialMedia of choice and I enjoy being here with likeminded people. This is how it should be..

Decentralize, to apple
@Decentralize@dt.gl avatar
itnewsbot, to DuckDuckGo

Apple considered ditching Google for DuckDuckGo in Safari’s private mode - Enlarge / Apple AI executive and former Google search lead John Giannan... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1973618

BryanGreyson, to Ecosia German
@BryanGreyson@social.tchncs.de avatar

#Ecosia hat die Datenschutzbedingungen aktualisiert.

Explizit weggefallen ist der Teil, dass die letzten zwei Segmente der IP-Adresse "verschleiert" werden.

Stattdessen werden zukünftig explizit Suchbegriffe UND IP-Adresse an Bing und, bei Zustimmung, an Google übermittelt.

Sehr schade, ich halte von Ecosia als Unternehmen viel, aber der Wegfall der "Verschleierung" vor Übertragung ist ein echter Rückschritt.

#Datenschutz

kkarhan,

@BryanGreyson #Protip: #DuckDuckGo als #OnionService über @torproject / #Tor nutzen.
https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion/

Selbst wenn die alles protokollieren würden kämen da nur die jeweiligen Relays raus...
https://github.com/greyhat-academy/lists.d/blob/main/onion.domains.list.tsv#L2

Und #TorBrowser hat keine eingebaute #Werbung oder #Tracking wie #GoogleChrome und all die anderen #Chromium-Klone...

ben, to technology
@ben@werd.social avatar

It turns out that Google quietly alters your search queries into ones it can more easily monetize, without you knowing. It's the kind of anti-user nonsense only a monopolist could pull off. https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/?utm_source=werd.io&utm_campaign=mastodon&utm_channel=mastodon

funcrunch,
@funcrunch@me.dm avatar

@ben

Ugh. Do All Evil #Google strikes again. Another reason to stick with #DuckDuckGo (though that isn't perfect either of course).

doboprobodyne, to technology in How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet - WIRED

Nice to see #Google hamstring themselves; they're seen as a #search engine benchmark, so this makes it easier for #DuckDuckGo (which uses #Bing to provide it's search answers, if I understand correctly) to edge up on them in the rankings... #DDG #searchEngine #Alphabet #surveillanceCapitalism

kzimmermann, to privacy
@kzimmermann@fosstodon.org avatar

Data mining-based machine is indeed a nightmare, but for a lot of stuff sometimes we just have to pick our poison. But recently I've seen that has also started offering this service as one of their instant answers functions.

I have no idea what backend they are using and how privacy-friendly it is. What do you think about it? Would you use it over, say, googletranslate or would you rather use something else?

pluralistic, to random
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

When I think about how the old, good internet turned into the , I imagine a series of small compromises, each seemingly reasonable at the time, each contributing to a cultural norm of making good things worse, and worse, and worse.

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/03/not-feeling-lucky/#fundamental-laws-of-economics

1/

pluralistic,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Some of those rackets are well-known, like #JediBlue, the market-rigging conspiracy that Google and Facebook colluded on:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_Blue

But thanks to the antitrust trial, we're learning about more of these. #MeganGray - ex-#FTC, ex-#DuckDuckGo - was in the courtroom last week when evidence was presented on Google execs' panic over a decline in "ad generating searches" and the sleazy gimmick they came up with to address it.

29/

Vegan lunch ideas, please [with very specific "requirements"] [adult advice needed]

Hi, long time vegan, but rather new to cycling. I used to be OMAD (please don’t question the health/fitness, I’m just poor, not ideological), but due to cycling I need to eat 2 meals to have the strength to get back home (riding uphill). I tried eating breakfast, but by the time I get to work and get through the shift, I...

lsdm, to DuckDuckGo French
@lsdm@mamot.fr avatar

15 ans de DuckDuckGo.

Voilà 15 ans que DuckDuckGo défie Google sur le terrain de la recherche en ligne, mais avec un argument de poids : pas question d’exploiter vos données personnelles.

DuckDuckGo est un moteur de recherche (comme Google et Bing).#DuckDuckGo https://lsdm.live/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4488

blogdiva, to random
@blogdiva@mastodon.social avatar

ADDING 2¢ 🧵 about #Alphabet's #GoogleSearch treachery:

first wave blogger known SEO has always been bullshit for Google.

many of y'all don't even know about the Indian "web security" company that back in the aughts blackholed Boing Boing and a chunk of in the USA feminist/political blogsophere.

sites like mine were getting massive amounts of traffic from India & Pakistan & POOF gone and completely delisted from their search pages in their localized Google...

1/

blogdiva,
@blogdiva@mastodon.social avatar

so i get to the point of this thread:

Google has corrupted all web search

#DuckDuckGo, the "best" alternative has huge SEO corruption problems from companies like Amazon, Alibaba, Ebay.

it's worse if you are looking for images:

#Pinterest is the #herpes of image search.

it just keeps on and on spreading itself thru every single TLD they can get their hands on: .com .org. .net. ca. fr. .es .de. jp. .com.mx. .au. .com.au.

it's absolutely awful...

4/

dominic, to DuckDuckGo French

15 ans pour l'outil de recherche respectueux de la vie privée. ... et toujours utilisé par moins de 0,6 % des internautes dans le monde. Qu'est-ce que ça lui prend pour monter en popularité?


https://www.clubic.com/actualite-486763-duckduckgo-a-15-ans-et-cherche-toujours-a-canarder-google.html

mastodonmigration, to random
@mastodonmigration@mastodon.online avatar

So, this surveillance capitalism thing is totally out of hand. Today @protonmail had a great explainer (https://mastodon.social/@protonmail/111165171600485248) on the mind bending evil Google is up to with it's new "privacy features". But pretty much every tech company is now in the business of profiling you and monetizing your tidbits.

What can you do? A lot as it turns out, but if you just want ONE EASY THING that you can do today, SWITCH TO FIREFOX (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/) and make DuckDuckGo your default search engine.

thetechtutor,
@thetechtutor@me.dm avatar

@mastodonmigration @protonmail

100% disagree about your #searchengine recommendation.

For top #privacy and #Security choose a search engine that is not located in the US nor any of the “five eyes” countries.

That means avoid #google #duckduckgo and #mojeek

Try #startpage or #searx

MatthewKay, (edited )
@MatthewKay@musician.social avatar

@mastodonmigration @protonmail search is junk. I’m going to try kagi . I don’t mind paying for nice things. I also recommend . seems okay.

nyquildotorg, to random
@nyquildotorg@fedia.social avatar

I've been talking about how AI will directly lead to an Idiocracy (2006) scenario for some time, but today's update to the "can you melt eggs?" saga is as clear an illustration of how as I think it's possible to ever have.

Quora's AI answers made up the melting point of eggs, and then Google picked it up and responded affirmatively that you can indeed melt eggs.

Then people wrote articles about how stupid it is that Google says eggs can melt. The Google fixes the answer.

Then Google ingests an article about how stupid it is that Google says you can melt eggs, and suddenly Google starts answering affirmatively again that you can melt eggs, citing the article about how stupid Google is for thinking you can melt eggs.

kkarhan,

@nyquildotorg I guess #Google's #Search is indeed unfixably #Enshittified beyond useable and people should switch to better options like #DuckDuckGo...

derekbruff, to random

Having just spent a fruitless 20 minutes, I have determined there’s no way to create a QR code using my phone without signing up for some dumb service.

davidlohner, (edited )
@davidlohner@bildung.social avatar

@derekbruff go to https://duckduckgo.com, type "qr" followed by desired URL. Voila.

#ProTip #QRcode #DuckDuckGo

parsa, to DuckDuckGo

I changed my default search engine from #DuckduckGo to #Ecosia .

hynek, to random
@hynek@mastodon.social avatar

It is absolutely infuriating how much better https://kagi.com is than Google or Bing/DDG.

teroshan,

@itamarst @ezarowny @hynek Agreed for this particular example TBH, although it's difficult the quality of the results on one search result.

The appeal of for me lies in the whole package:

  • ability to block/bump/pin domains in my results
  • personalized bangs across all my sessions (e.g. phone and all computers), + compatibility with bangs
  • Better support for code-related searched, so all symbols are taken into account

I feel lucky to be the target for this product :)

yakkoj, to random
@yakkoj@fosstodon.org avatar

>DDG search of "grafana".
>first hit is an ad from ebay.

is search in general just useless now?

bignose,
@bignose@fosstodon.org avatar

aggregates a wide variety of sources, plus its own crawling of the web. Good! But:

That web is increasingly filled not only with crap, but with sites that actively subvert the usefulness of search results.

> Engineers [are] not trying to cure cancer […] they're trying to engineer ways to force you to click on things you don't wanna click on, basically, technological forms of mind control, and also find ways to avoid legal responsibility for that.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/internet-terrible-now-tim-wu-knows-why-podcast-transcript-ncna877906

@yakkoj

alexskunz, to DuckDuckGo
@alexskunz@mas.to avatar

Happy birthday #DuckDuckGo — my default search engine for well over 10 years... I think... :)

https://spreadprivacy.com/15-years-of-duckduckgo/?s=pr-hd

#Privacy

itnewsbot, to DuckDuckGo

‘Unprecedented’ Secrecy in Google Trial as Tech Giants Push to Limit Disclosures - Efforts to seal testimony have increasingly raised questions as the federal antitrust cas... - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/technology/google-antitrust-trial-secrecy.html #antitrustlawsandcompetitionissues #computersandtheinternet #courtsandthejudiciary #justicedepartment #giannandreajohn #searchengines #microsoftcorp #corporations #duckduckgo #mehtaamitp #googleinc #appleinc #cueeddy

Linux_Is_Best, to DuckDuckGo

15 years of DuckDuckGo

https://spreadprivacy.com/15-years-of-duckduckgo/?s=pr-hd

Happy Birthday, DuckDuckGo!

#DuckDuckGo #DDG

thecodingbeard, to DuckDuckGo

Curious - How many of you use as your primary search engine?

kzimmermann, to DuckDuckGo
@kzimmermann@fosstodon.org avatar

15 years ago, #DuckDuckGo was launched

https://spreadprivacy.com/15-years-of-duckduckgo/

For me, personally, it was with DDG that I learned how #Google was privacy-invasive, and my starting point to learning more about #privacy.

As controversial as they are with conflicts of interest, I think they opened quite the door to what alternative #searchengines could be. Search and then metasearch came up and gave us a lot more privacy-friendly alternatives.

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