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  3. DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode.

DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode.

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  • nixcraft@mastodon.socialN nixcraft@mastodon.social

    DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode. Is anyone surprised by this result?

    X Cancelled | Verifying your request

    favicon

    (xcancel.com)

    roblosricos@mastodon.socialR This user is from outside of this forum
    roblosricos@mastodon.socialR This user is from outside of this forum
    roblosricos@mastodon.social
    wrote last edited by
    #57

    @nixCraft

    if only DDG didn't give the exact same results as google's pay-for-views!

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.uk

      @nixCraft They just don't get it do they?
      Firefox who held a survey in which a huge majority voted against AI, allows you to block AI tools, but almost begs you not to.
      Duckduck go browser just lets you turn it off.

      shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
      shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
      shaedrich@mastodon.online
      wrote last edited by
      #58

      @wyliecoyoteuk @nixCraft

      Link Preview Image
      wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • thestonedonkey@beige.partyT This user is from outside of this forum
        thestonedonkey@beige.partyT This user is from outside of this forum
        thestonedonkey@beige.party
        wrote last edited by
        #59

        @gulfie
        @nixCraft
        Yeah seems like a weird brag when the difference between them is a button on the search bar.

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • mustardfacial@infosec.exchangeM mustardfacial@infosec.exchange

          @nixCraft Serious question: If Google dies, what happens to Android? Google effectively owns it and it shuttering the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) in September.

          shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
          shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
          shaedrich@mastodon.online
          wrote last edited by
          #60

          @Mustardfacial @nixCraft Are you really expecting Alphabet to die?

          1 Reply Last reply
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          • shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS shaedrich@mastodon.online

            @wyliecoyoteuk @nixCraft

            Link Preview Image
            wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW This user is from outside of this forum
            wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW This user is from outside of this forum
            wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.uk
            wrote last edited by
            #61

            @shaedrich @nixCraft
            I did not say that they weren't, I just pointed out that the process of turning it off is very different.
            DDG also lets you turn it off in search.

            shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS 1 Reply Last reply
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            • wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.uk

              @shaedrich @nixCraft
              I did not say that they weren't, I just pointed out that the process of turning it off is very different.
              DDG also lets you turn it off in search.

              shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
              shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
              shaedrich@mastodon.online
              wrote last edited by
              #62

              @wyliecoyoteuk @nixCraft DDG's still on quite a high horse, saying "People are fleeing from a website that embraced AI, fleeing to us¹!"

              ¹ a website that embraced AI

              wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW 1 Reply Last reply
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              • madsenandersc@social.vivaldi.netM madsenandersc@social.vivaldi.net

                @Mustardfacial @nixCraft

                Google will not die, at least not without a new kid on the block eating their lunch.

                Being assholes will not drive users away as long as your product is better (actually or percieved as) than the competition.

                So, if Google dies entirely, it will be because all of their products have been killed off by competing products.

                Any product still good enough to be a contender would be bought up by someone else or (more likely) be spun off into a new company.

                So, I seriously doubt that Google will die, but it may very well face the same destiny as Microsoft, who was absolutely untouchable on the desktop OS market back around the time when Windows 95 and 98 came out.

                Yes, there was OS/2 and Mac OS, but they were niche players. Today, the world is completely different because of mobile devices, and none of them runs a Microsoft OS. Microsoft is now just "a" operating system provider, not "the" operating system provider.

                My guess is that Google could end up in the same situation as Microsoft once the dedicated AI-companies start eating into parts of their business.

                Oh, and make no mistake. LLM is here to stay.

                It will not be the do-all-end-all tool that some wants it to be, but it is definitely a tool that has its uses as e.g. a dedicated knowledge management tool internally in companies.

                shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                shaedrich@mastodon.online
                wrote last edited by
                #63

                @madsenandersc @Mustardfacial @nixCraft On mobile, yes. But desktop and mobile are very different animals in certain aspects.

                1 Reply Last reply
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                • shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS shaedrich@mastodon.online

                  @wyliecoyoteuk @nixCraft DDG's still on quite a high horse, saying "People are fleeing from a website that embraced AI, fleeing to us¹!"

                  ¹ a website that embraced AI

                  wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW This user is from outside of this forum
                  wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW This user is from outside of this forum
                  wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.uk
                  wrote last edited by
                  #64

                  @shaedrich @nixCraft At least they let you turn it off easily, unlike Chrome or google search.

                  shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • syrupsplashin@infosec.exchangeS syrupsplashin@infosec.exchange

                    @nixCraft Is there any real infrastructure to fill the void left by Android/Play Services and Youtube? Google runs some pretty important platforms, I don't see how they'd be allowed to die

                    shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                    shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                    shaedrich@mastodon.online
                    wrote last edited by
                    #65

                    @syrupsplashin @nixCraft There's PeerTube, for example, but no, it won't replace YouTube in the foreseeable future

                    1 Reply Last reply
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                    • wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.uk

                      @shaedrich @nixCraft At least they let you turn it off easily, unlike Chrome or google search.

                      shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                      shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                      shaedrich@mastodon.online
                      wrote last edited by
                      #66

                      @wyliecoyoteuk @nixCraft Your post, I reacted to compares DDG with Firefox, not Google. Firefox let's you turn this off: With a single kill switch.

                      Sure, Mozilla stabbed its userbase in the back time and again by trying to equal Google, but this isn't that bad after all this time.

                      wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS shaedrich@mastodon.online

                        @wyliecoyoteuk @nixCraft Your post, I reacted to compares DDG with Firefox, not Google. Firefox let's you turn this off: With a single kill switch.

                        Sure, Mozilla stabbed its userbase in the back time and again by trying to equal Google, but this isn't that bad after all this time.

                        wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW This user is from outside of this forum
                        wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW This user is from outside of this forum
                        wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.uk
                        wrote last edited by
                        #67

                        @shaedrich @nixCraft Yes, but when you do, it almost begs you not to " But you'll lose all these useful things☆, are you sure?" and you need to confirm it, so not a single kill switch, after all.
                        This is despite the results of a user survey that overwhelmingly dismissed AI in the browser.
                        I am not saying that either of them are right to do this, just pointing out the difference in the implementation.

                        ☆Most of which aren't really that useful.

                        shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS hidikem@piaille.frH 2 Replies Last reply
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                        • wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.ukW wyliecoyoteuk@mastodon.org.uk

                          @shaedrich @nixCraft Yes, but when you do, it almost begs you not to " But you'll lose all these useful things☆, are you sure?" and you need to confirm it, so not a single kill switch, after all.
                          This is despite the results of a user survey that overwhelmingly dismissed AI in the browser.
                          I am not saying that either of them are right to do this, just pointing out the difference in the implementation.

                          ☆Most of which aren't really that useful.

                          shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                          shaedrich@mastodon.onlineS This user is from outside of this forum
                          shaedrich@mastodon.online
                          wrote last edited by
                          #68

                          @wyliecoyoteuk @nixCraft I never said, Firefox was perfect. But so isn't DDG. That's all I was trying to say.

                          Glass houses don't need to be identical for it to be advisable not to throw stones from within.

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • nixcraft@mastodon.socialN nixcraft@mastodon.social

                            DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode. Is anyone surprised by this result?

                            X Cancelled | Verifying your request

                            favicon

                            (xcancel.com)

                            orca@nya.oneO This user is from outside of this forum
                            orca@nya.oneO This user is from outside of this forum
                            orca@nya.one
                            wrote last edited by
                            #69
                            @nixCraft@mastodon.social
                            Have DuckDuckGo considered switching their AI powered "Search Assistant" to "On Demand" by default, then?
                            https://duckduckgo.com/settings#aifeatures
                            No?
                            🙃
                            1 Reply Last reply
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                            • nixcraft@mastodon.socialN nixcraft@mastodon.social

                              I have seen this before with their forced Google+ adoption game. Users aren't adopting Google AI at the rate shareholders or C suits expect, so they now force the adoption at the cost of search engine. Just like Google+ died out, this forced AI mode in Google search is going to die and I hope it will be the end of the company as well.

                              ruenahcmohr@infosec.exchangeR This user is from outside of this forum
                              ruenahcmohr@infosec.exchangeR This user is from outside of this forum
                              ruenahcmohr@infosec.exchange
                              wrote last edited by
                              #70

                              @nixCraft grep the binaries (main and support libraries) of your fav internet browser for "google" I bet it comes up more than a few times.

                              This isn't good.

                              1 Reply Last reply
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                              • nixcraft@mastodon.socialN nixcraft@mastodon.social

                                DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode. Is anyone surprised by this result?

                                X Cancelled | Verifying your request

                                favicon

                                (xcancel.com)

                                torgo@mastodon.socialT This user is from outside of this forum
                                torgo@mastodon.socialT This user is from outside of this forum
                                torgo@mastodon.social
                                wrote last edited by
                                #71

                                @nixCraft I like this but I wish DuckDuckGo did not conflate usage with "installs" like this – as if the only way to change search engine is to install a new browser…

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • nixcraft@mastodon.socialN nixcraft@mastodon.social

                                  DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode. Is anyone surprised by this result?

                                  X Cancelled | Verifying your request

                                  favicon

                                  (xcancel.com)

                                  huntingdon@mstdn.socialH This user is from outside of this forum
                                  huntingdon@mstdn.socialH This user is from outside of this forum
                                  huntingdon@mstdn.social
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #72

                                  @nixCraft

                                  It's also time NOT to let Giggle or its peers buy DuckDuckGo and turn it into the dog's breakfast it serves up instead of a privacy-friendly browser.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • nixcraft@mastodon.socialN nixcraft@mastodon.social

                                    DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode. Is anyone surprised by this result?

                                    X Cancelled | Verifying your request

                                    favicon

                                    (xcancel.com)

                                    greenpepper22@mastodon.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
                                    greenpepper22@mastodon.socialG This user is from outside of this forum
                                    greenpepper22@mastodon.social
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #73

                                    @nixCraft I gotta be honest, when I go to google.com to search, which isn’t my default I’ve been using ecosia for years, I still just see normal search results and get a list of links to various sites. I see a new tab for “AI mode” but it’s not the default

                                    Am I missing something with all this? The news I see makes it sound like old google search isn’t available anymore, but that doesn’t match with what I see, are folks out there seeing the AI stuff as the default?

                                    hidikem@piaille.frH 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • nixcraft@mastodon.socialN nixcraft@mastodon.social

                                      DuckDuckGo's AI-free search saw nearly 28% more visits in the week following Google's insistence that people love AI mode. Is anyone surprised by this result?

                                      X Cancelled | Verifying your request

                                      favicon

                                      (xcancel.com)

                                      hidikem@piaille.frH This user is from outside of this forum
                                      hidikem@piaille.frH This user is from outside of this forum
                                      hidikem@piaille.fr
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #74

                                      @nixCraft Duckduckgo is bing, and when microslop follow google lead they also are dead.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • greenpepper22@mastodon.socialG greenpepper22@mastodon.social

                                        @nixCraft I gotta be honest, when I go to google.com to search, which isn’t my default I’ve been using ecosia for years, I still just see normal search results and get a list of links to various sites. I see a new tab for “AI mode” but it’s not the default

                                        Am I missing something with all this? The news I see makes it sound like old google search isn’t available anymore, but that doesn’t match with what I see, are folks out there seeing the AI stuff as the default?

                                        hidikem@piaille.frH This user is from outside of this forum
                                        hidikem@piaille.frH This user is from outside of this forum
                                        hidikem@piaille.fr
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #75

                                        @greenpepper22 @nixCraft they anounced it in their google I/O and started rolling out in the US

                                        The time it's expended (and the cache pass) it can take week / month before it's completly rolled out).

                                        greenpepper22@mastodon.socialG 1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • hidikem@piaille.frH This user is from outside of this forum
                                          hidikem@piaille.frH This user is from outside of this forum
                                          hidikem@piaille.fr
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #76

                                          @Darkphoenix @nixCraft so you in fact did it on bing as DDG is bing with an extra step

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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