I mean the article is specifically about Google search. Which might have gone downhill since whenever it first came out with the introduction of ads (sorry, ‘Sponsored Results’) but I’m not seeing significantly better competition for delivering search results. Everyone is still just aping the brand leader.
DuckDuckGo is obviously better for privacy for example but it doesn’t seem to have any ambition except to deliver the same results as Google but without the ads and tracking which is ok but not a big enough draw except for people already concerned about privacy. Bing gets essentially the same results but if anything seems more spammy than Google with pop ups about making it or edge your default search engine or browser. It feels like other search engines just take Google search as something to copy and put their spin on it though.
I’d say search is one of the things Google is still getting right enough to earn its place as the leader. Some things it does well, some things it has badly declined on (someone above mentioned Google assistant hardly understanding anything anymore, when it used to be the best in this area too), but generally you can replace most Google things with programmes doing things their own way. Search engines just feel a bit like reskins to me
I just started trialling kagi the other day and I’m enjoying it so far but one thing I miss is how reliably Google can tell me opening hours when I search for a local cafe. The web results have been better so far, though.
I just use Google maps for that. It will ALWAYS show the hours if they’re listed, instead of sometimes like on Google results pages. On my phone I use the maps app and on my desktop I go to maps.google.com.
yes, google maps is still king fothat I guess. After a bit more searching on Kagi, though, I’m really liking it, is there a way to see how many searches you have left?
Doesn’t seem to play nicely with Firefox Android unfortunately. Which is ironic because Chrome on Android is one of the areas of Google I decided to experiment degoogling from just a week ago or so
I use it on Firefox Android and it works fine. Go to settings/search/defaultsearch engines, then tap “add a search engine”. You can even use a token to enable Kagi in private browsing. Then you just select Kagi instead of one of the other options.
DuckDuckGo is obviously better for privacy for example but it doesn’t seem to have any ambition except to deliver the same results as Google but without the ads
I don’t think duckduckgo has ANY control over improving the search results. Except maybe switching to a different engine.
I mean the article is specifically about Google search. Which might have gone downhill since whenever it first came out with the introduction of ads (sorry, ‘Sponsored Results’) but I’m not seeing significantly better competition for delivering search results. Everyone is still just aping the brand leader.
DuckDuckGo is obviously better for privacy for example but it doesn’t seem to have any ambition except to deliver the same results as Google but without the ads and tracking which is ok but not a big enough draw except for people already concerned about privacy. Bing gets essentially the same results but if anything seems more spammy than Google with pop ups about making it or edge your default search engine or browser. It feels like other search engines just take Google search as something to copy and put their spin on it though.
I’d say search is one of the things Google is still getting right enough to earn its place as the leader. Some things it does well, some things it has badly declined on (someone above mentioned Google assistant hardly understanding anything anymore, when it used to be the best in this area too), but generally you can replace most Google things with programmes doing things their own way. Search engines just feel a bit like reskins to me
Kagi is better than all the others combined. Yes you have to pay for it. If you spend any time on the Internet day-to-day then it’s worth it.
I just started trialling kagi the other day and I’m enjoying it so far but one thing I miss is how reliably Google can tell me opening hours when I search for a local cafe. The web results have been better so far, though.
I just use Google maps for that. It will ALWAYS show the hours if they’re listed, instead of sometimes like on Google results pages. On my phone I use the maps app and on my desktop I go to maps.google.com.
yes, google maps is still king fothat I guess. After a bit more searching on Kagi, though, I’m really liking it, is there a way to see how many searches you have left?
Yup! Go to account/settings/billing and it’ll tell you. I thought I would use more than 1000 every month, but so far I’m averaging about 700.
Thanks!
Doesn’t seem to play nicely with Firefox Android unfortunately. Which is ironic because Chrome on Android is one of the areas of Google I decided to experiment degoogling from just a week ago or so
I use it on Firefox Android and it works fine. Go to
settings/search/default search engines, then tap “add a search engine”. You can even use a token to enable Kagi in private browsing. Then you just select Kagi instead of one of the other options.I don’t think duckduckgo has ANY control over improving the search results. Except maybe switching to a different engine.
Honestly Bing has outperformed Google for me lately to the point where I might set as default on some browsers.