Larry of the Lawn Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 (edited) Google has become essentially useless unless you're trying to buy something that's maybe related to your query or you're looking for clickbait. Search Engine Optimization frustration is wh[at] spurred me to post this, but the general complaint is not limited to that. Nothing lasts. So it goes. Is there a search engine out there that works anymore? Is there a way to find information that isn't a paywalled, a shitty quora link answered by god-knows-who or just selling me something? Even all the fucking sites selling us shit, you click on the page and the information on the item you're looking at is the most difficult thing to find. I am this close to just launching my phone into the river. Please refrain from posting Twitter links or YouTube videos in this thread. Eta: I can Google a specific business and Google will instead provide for the first result whatever they have for a tangentially related advertising partner. I Google "Lindemann chimney supply" and they give me links to Rockford Chimney Supply. Fuck you. Edited August 7, 2023 by Larry of the Lake JGP, Iskaral Pust, Tears of Lys and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 I feel you. Best [for me] is searching for flights. You'd almost think none of the big airline companies have their own sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Huh. That's nothin'. Bing is 100x worse. Click Bait City. LongRider 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Bing is only slightly better, IMO (and work at MS, so take it for a grain of salt). Generally has less depth of searches but also way fewer ads and sponsored garbage. And yeah, the Enshittification of search is really prevalent. It's remarkable how bad it is. I've heard some fans of DuckDuckGo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Larry of the Lake said: Is there a search engine out there that works anymore? Is there a way to find information that isn't a paywalled, a shitty quora link answered by god-knows-who or just selling me something? Even all the fucking sites selling us shit, you click on the page and the information on the item you're looking at is the most difficult thing to find. Reddit. I've found it enormously useful in determining the actual quality of many items I've had to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 I switched to duckduckgo as my default search engine years ago. No complaints. JGP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felice Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 5 hours ago, Kalnak the Magnificent said: I've heard some fans of DuckDuckGo? It's my default, but it's not great. I frequently try Google after DDG doesn't work, and sometimes get better results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 I'm using as ecosia.org as much as possible after I've seen students use it. Just a minor way to greenwash my searches.^^ Have to switch to Google sometimes for more obscure searches, but it's fine for everyday things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog-days Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 I tried ecosia a couple of years ago but reverted to Google since ecosia didn't have the ability to return bus and train timetables for the relevant day. I don't drive, and that particular feature is very useful. Should give it another go. Toth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toth Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 1 hour ago, dog-days said: I tried ecosia a couple of years ago but reverted to Google since ecosia didn't have the ability to return bus and train timetables for the relevant day. I don't drive, and that particular feature is very useful. Should give it another go. To be honest, I just go straight to the site of the local train company. Here they have their own route planners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liffguard Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 Cory Doctorow has termed this "enshittification" which I think neatly sums up the phenomenom. Kalbear, Spockydog and Larry of the Lawn 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 5 hours ago, Liffguard said: Cory Doctorow has termed this "enshittification" which I think neatly sums up the phenomenom. Yeah, that's what I was referencing too. He has a great series on that and what we could do differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 More general computer complaints- my wifi stopped working on my laptop. Bought a USB wifi adapter, plugged it into laptop, needs a driver. Didn't come with one. Can't download it because no Wi-Fi on PC. Trying to connect phone to PC but Windows won't let me connect without signing into my Microsoft acct, which can't do because again, no internet. This is all incredibly stupid. Just yelling at a cloud here. Soylent Brown 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 5 hours ago, Larry of the Lake said: More general computer complaints- my wifi stopped working on my laptop. Bought a USB wifi adapter, plugged it into laptop, needs a driver. Didn't come with one. Can't download it because no Wi-Fi on PC. Trying to connect phone to PC but Windows won't let me connect without signing into my Microsoft acct, which can't do because again, no internet. This is all incredibly stupid. Just yelling at a cloud here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 It would be funny (in an unfunny way) if they drove us back to keeping massive libraries of resource materials and print media. Many law offices still keep complete law libraries onsite, and I'm sure there are others also doing it. As a court reporter/stenographer, I'm sometimes driven to fucking looking it up in a book. Much quicker and not so many irrelevant temptations. Larry of the Lawn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Oop North Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 It is interesting how you can have such different results. When I search for Lindemann chimney supply, the first result that I get is their website. Larry of the Lawn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 On 8/7/2023 at 10:48 PM, Kalnak the Magnificent said: Bing is only slightly better, IMO You guys really laser-focused your porn game, right? How is Bing for SFW chimneys though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soylent Brown Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 On 8/10/2023 at 3:06 PM, Larry of the Lawn said: More general computer complaints- my wifi stopped working on my laptop. Bought a USB wifi adapter, plugged it into laptop, needs a driver. Didn't come with one. Can't download it because no Wi-Fi on PC. Trying to connect phone to PC but Windows won't let me connect without signing into my Microsoft acct, which can't do because again, no internet. This is all incredibly stupid. Just yelling at a cloud here. I had something similar last year. Built a computer, and my motherboard with wifi built in needed a driver update in order to connect to the internet via wifi. Good job, everyone! Larry of the Lawn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relic Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 On 8/7/2023 at 10:03 PM, Larry of the Lawn said: Google has become essentially useless unless you're trying to buy something that's maybe related to your query or you're looking for clickbait. Search Engine Optimization frustration is wh[at] spurred me to post this, but the general complaint is not limited to that. Nothing lasts. So it goes. Is there a search engine out there that works anymore? Is there a way to find information that isn't a paywalled, a shitty quora link answered by god-knows-who or just selling me something? Even all the fucking sites selling us shit, you click on the page and the information on the item you're looking at is the most difficult thing to find. I am this close to just launching my phone into the river. Please refrain from posting Twitter links or YouTube videos in this thread. Eta: I can Google a specific business and Google will instead provide for the first result whatever they have for a tangentially related advertising partner. I Google "Lindemann chimney supply" and they give me links to Rockford Chimney Supply. Fuck you. Google essentially canabalized the internet. They made the rules, rules that dumbed down content, and are now eating off of the backs of others. They will eat until there is nothing left. Why anti-trust cases haven't been brought up against Google in a regular basis I'll never understand. Tears of Lys 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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