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  • DuckDuckGo

    From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Thu Oct 5 20:25:24 2023
    Apple considered ditching Google for DuckDuckGo in Safari's private
    mode

    But Apple exec argued DuckDuckGo wasn't as private as believed.

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/apple-considered-ditching-google-for-duckduckgo-in-safaris-private-mode/

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to All on Fri Oct 6 06:40:10 2023
    DuckDuckGo CEO says Google's billions got in the way of a deal with
    Apple

    The CEO of privacy-oriented search engine DuckDuckGo said its talks
    with Apple (AAPL.O) about a potential contract failed because the
    smartphone maker was reluctant to give up Google's multibillion dollar paychecks, according to newly transcripts of a landmark antitrust
    trial of the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit.

    Gabriel Weinberg, who also founded the company, testified on Sept. 21
    on the effect on DuckDuckGo of Google's $10 billion in annual payments
    to smartphone makers and others to keep its search engine as the
    default on computers or mobile devices.

    Some of his testimony took place outside of public view.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/duckduckgo-chief-says-google-contract-stopped-deal-with-apple-2023-10-05/

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  • From rdh@21:1/5 to All on Fri Oct 6 08:37:55 2023
    DDG has really dropped the ball lately. I think (hope) we all knew it
    wasn't exactly a truly private service, but it was private enough, and
    the search results were better than Google, whose own search results
    were increasingly unrelated.

    But one thing DuckDuckGo never got right was old-school search
    operators. You can't search for, say -JAB to find results without JAB in
    them. the minus operator only displays ``fewer'' results. What a joke.

    What's a better result? I recently started using Kagi, but it's not at
    all private, you need an account to use it--And there's a cost! But,
    I've been happier with the results I get, not to mention the ability to
    raise, lower, or outright block domains from your search results. I
    think this kind of search is the only way to defeat blogspam, and
    misbehaving sites like pinterest.

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  • From Theo@21:1/5 to rdh on Fri Oct 6 15:12:58 2023
    rdh <rdh@tilde.institute> wrote:
    DDG has really dropped the ball lately. I think (hope) we all knew it
    wasn't exactly a truly private service, but it was private enough, and
    the search results were better than Google, whose own search results
    were increasingly unrelated.

    But one thing DuckDuckGo never got right was old-school search
    operators. You can't search for, say -JAB to find results without JAB in them. the minus operator only displays ``fewer'' results. What a joke.

    What's a better result? I recently started using Kagi, but it's not at
    all private, you need an account to use it--And there's a cost! But,
    I've been happier with the results I get, not to mention the ability to raise, lower, or outright block domains from your search results. I
    think this kind of search is the only way to defeat blogspam, and
    misbehaving sites like pinterest.

    StartPage.com has Google's search results without all the Google self-ads/shopping ads/tracking/etc. No accounts/logins/costs/etc. Search operators work as in Google.

    I'd put it slightly ahead of Bing-based searches like DDG, mostly because Google is often better if you're searching for something really specific
    like a part number. (but still much worse than it used to be)

    Theo

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to rdh on Fri Oct 6 10:39:07 2023
    On Fri, 6 Oct 2023 08:37:55 -0500, rdh <rdh@tilde.institute> wrote:

    better than Google, whose own search results
    were increasingly unrelated

    Inputting "correct" search terms does make a difference, but search
    results may bring up "current" results, which excludes older results.

    Example, years ago, finding out how much a pilot flame uses in a
    furnace was no big deal. Since then, about most/all furnaces have
    electronic flame ignition, so fewer people search for this.

    All search engines are biased in some manner....and results may change
    over time with same search terms.

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  • From JAB@21:1/5 to theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk on Fri Oct 6 10:58:24 2023
    On 06 Oct 2023 15:12:58 +0100 (BST), Theo
    <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

    StartPage.com has Google's search results without all the Google >self-ads/shopping ads/tracking/etc. No accounts/logins/costs/etc.

    But it cost money for this infrastructure...

    Does it support ECH?
    ===================================
    Privacy as a default.

    With ECH on Firefox, users can be assured that their browsing patterns
    are more private. But Firefox's support for ECH is only one half of
    the story - web servers also need to implement ECH. Fortunately, ECH
    is an open standard which any website operator can deploy. Cloudflare
    has already rolled out support for ECH and we look forward to other
    providers launching their deployments in the near future.

    https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/encrypted-hello/

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  • From rdh@21:1/5 to JAB on Fri Oct 6 15:09:11 2023
    On 10/6/23 10:39, JAB wrote:
    Inputting "correct" search terms does make a difference, but search
    results may bring up "current" results, which excludes older results.
    This is really the main problem. Google began prioritizing sites that
    update frequently, but some information doesn't change over time, so
    what's to update?

    Google has also become much fuzzier over time (And DDG started that
    way), widening it's range of synonyms and related terms. Searching for
    niche terms has become much more difficult.

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  • From Michael Trew@21:1/5 to JAB on Fri Oct 6 18:01:22 2023
    On 10/5/2023 9:25 PM, JAB wrote:
    Apple considered ditching Google for DuckDuckGo in Safari's private
    mode

    But Apple exec argued DuckDuckGo wasn't as private as believed.

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/apple-considered-ditching-google-for-duckduckgo-in-safaris-private-mode/

    Apparently DDG shares some info with Microsoft/Bing, but even still, it
    *has* to be better than Google. I have been using DDG exclusively as a
    search engine for 6+ years now. I always change the default search to
    DDG on whatever browser.

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  • From Theo@21:1/5 to Michael Trew on Sat Oct 7 21:38:19 2023
    Michael Trew <michael.trew@att.net> wrote:
    On 10/5/2023 9:25 PM, JAB wrote:
    Apple considered ditching Google for DuckDuckGo in Safari's private
    mode

    But Apple exec argued DuckDuckGo wasn't as private as believed.

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/apple-considered-ditching-google-for-duckduckgo-in-safaris-private-mode/

    Apparently DDG shares some info with Microsoft/Bing, but even still, it
    *has* to be better than Google. I have been using DDG exclusively as a search engine for 6+ years now. I always change the default search to
    DDG on whatever browser.

    DDG *is* Bing - it uses the Bing API for its searches. They just keep track
    of less client data than MS does when you go to Bing directly, so you get
    more 'generic' results. Startpage does the same job with the Google API.

    Theo

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