You're probably seeing a lot of messages like this one in your feed today, but it's important to me to pile on.

[0xtero@ohai.social]

@jeridansky @mikeolson Fuck. I was enjoying the service, but Brave is just enormous scam. Thanks for the link. I hate this.

[jeridansky@sfba.social]

@0xtero You're welcome. And I hate it, too.

[wrosecrans@mstdn.social]

@mikeolson I finally switched the default search engine setting on the browsers on my desktop away from Google after decades of using Google.

(I guess we'll see how long Chrome actually respects that setting...)

[findus@social.coop]

@hakona @jeridansky @mikeolson I just started to use uruky.com - run by a small team with a decent philosophy. The search results aren't that amazing (personalisation seems to help a bit). But the simple signup (just account number) and user experience (no AI, no ads, just results) makes using it *feel* great

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@findus I'm thinking getting actual results, that take me to actual websites is me doing my part to keep the web alive. @jeridansky @mikeolson

[dexternemrod@troet.cafe]

@hakona

@jeridansky @mikeolson

This is the wrong question. In my opinion, if someone points out a flaw, it is better to ask for a better/more ethical alternative and not for a flawless alternative.

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@dexternemrod My point exactly. @jeridansky @mikeolson

[dexternemrod@troet.cafe]

@hakona

@jeridansky @mikeolson

Why then ask this question?

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@dexternemrod It is my way of saying that I will continue using Kagi until somebody shows me an engine, and a company that is unequivocally better ethically (must be functional, that's a pre.req).

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@dexternemrod I'm employing something called a "rhetorical question" . Check Wikipedia, please do *not* google it.

[dexternemrod@troet.cafe]

@hakona

Then I misunderstood you.

[dexternemrod@troet.cafe]

@hakona

We can now start a discussion to find out if this is really a rethorical question or not. But thank you for your attempt to educate me.

Just to have it said: I found an alternative for google that suits my needs and is ethical enough for me (not sure if it reaches 100%).

[kitkat_blue@mastodon.social]

@mikeolson

"Don't be evil" was never real, they have always been nothing but a dealer giving away their product to get people hooked--only to begin cutting it with poison.

[harmoniousanger@zeroes.ca]

@kitkat_blue @mikeolson It *might* have been real long ago, but the incontrovertible cutoff point was buying doubleclick and not burning it to the ground.

[bob@beamship.mpaq.org]

@mikeolson

A decentrilsed search engine. No AI, no tracking. No advertising. No javascript of any kind. Never pay for it. Anyone can setup their own "branch" and contribute. Why does this sound so much like the #Fediverse? I could use some help with the system I've building for over a year and with corporations selling us out, we can band together to take the internet back.


This is what the internet was BEFORE the corprite take over.

This is #TidySearch https://search.mpaq.org

[chazh@mastodon.social]

@jeridansky @mikeolson I agree this is important. I’ve found I can keep the AI away on Kagi but I am troubled by partnering with homophobes and also continuing to do business in Russia.

While “more ethical than Google” has been good enough for me so far, I would love to pay for a better alternative. What do you use?

[jeridansky@sfba.social]

@chazh For now I'm using https://noai.duckduckgo.com. I've seen others that I like but they sadly seem to be less comprehensive.

I would gladly pay for a good alternative that isn't as ethically troublesome as Kagi.

@mikeolson

[chazh@mastodon.social]

@jeridansky @mikeolson Mm. I haven’t been impressed with them in the past but I should give them another look.

I hate it though, Kagi’s actually good, if only they gave a damn about ethics I would have been recommending them everywhere.

Well perhaps the new google news will inspire some real competition in future years.

[jeridansky@sfba.social]

@chazh I see that @parismarx is using Qwant; I'm going to give that one another look. https://disconnect.blog/google-is-its-own-worst-enemy/

@mikeolson

[a_cubed@mastodon.social]

@jeridansky @chazh @mikeolson
I'm also on Duckduckgo, via Waterfox on the PC and their browser app on Android. I find their results good, you can tell their AI to go away and it stays gone (except on the Tor browser where each session needs it setting at the beginning).Only problem is they have no "-" keyword setting so can't exclude things.