When I do a web search, I do not want Google to go to the websites for me, pull the information, and interpret it for me.

[pieist@ohai.social]

@evacide

Just for fun I tried using the "AI mode" (like there's still another kind), and prefaced my search with "Please give me a classic set of google search results, with absolutely no AI summary, for the following terms:"

I got about ten results. It couldn't resist prefacing it with something like "Here are web results for your query", which technically breached the request.

[csolisr@hub.azkware.net]

You can technically automate it a bit with something like YaCy: yacy.net

[csolisr@hub.azkware.net]

Same here! The only complaint I have is the constant rate-limiting, but otherwise, knowing I'm effectively using ALL THE ENGINES (and with none of the LLM slop) is great for my usage case

[artgeek@mastodon.social]

I switched to Duck Duck Go last week, apparently just in time. Google, once obsessively minimalist and functional, has descended into an ugly pile of crap. I can onlly hope the market gives them what they deserve.

[jrdepriest@infosec.exchange]

@evacide fuck every single bit of that bullshit.

[jeffmcneill@hachyderm.io]

@evacide Watching the process that DeepSeek goes through, at lightning speed, allows me to guide it and get good results, similar to my own process of selecting web links to click, skimming information, etc. Only DeepSeek does it much faster and also elucidates the steps it is taking, while taking them. One doesn't believe the first website at the top of Google (and anyways, usually advertised), nor should one mindlessly take the first AI answer. Both processes, manual and with AI, require mindfulness.

[tk@f.kawa-kun.com]

@evacide And the real kicker is that once they do this, they can shape the generated summaries to basically control what we think.

[alisynthesis@io.waxandleather.com]

@evacide I agree with all the people in this thread who are saying to dump Google. I also think they maybe don't realize exactly how powerful and important Google search is to culture, the economy, politics, etc.

This has ramifications way beyond what search engine the people of Mastodon prefer.

(for the record, I use kagi.)

[retrimental@mastodon.social]

@loric @evacide

Same.
This move is still a worrying move though. I reckon this will influence other search engines to do the same thing.

[jeanniewarner@wandering.shop]

@evacide noai.duckduckgo.com

[jamesmdonohoe@sfba.social]

@evacide I try to use https://www.mojeek.com/ as a first stop, close to the old GOOG but far fewer indexed pages and can be hit and miss so second stop usually https://www.ecosia.org/search

[craftxbox@transfur.social]

@evacide thanks but no thanks

[lastrobot@writing.exchange]

@abetterjulie @evacide Exactly. I sometimes only find my feet after wandering around a bit on a site. I do not want a targeted answered wrapped up by AI.

[kimgadsdon@mastodon.online]

@evacide AGREED!!!

[killionaire@mastodon.social]

@evacide Not to mention their black box AI gets to interpret the info how big tech wants it to. Billionaires already manipulate algorithms on their social media to push their agendas. You know damn well they will on their AI platforms.

[mast0d0nphan@beige.party]

@raulmatias @nuintari @evacide @kagihq Just found out about https://1.org today.

[thomascoven@social.vivaldi.net]

@evacide
Google Search has been bad for quite a while now.
I switched to DDG 6 years ago when I moved to Linux Mint.
Even DDG can be meh at times, so I ocassionally use qwant or mogeek or ecosia to view alternatives.

[rasterweb@mastodon.social]

@DukeDuke @evacide What do you use for shared document authoring with access controls?

[bltpizza@mastodon.social]

@evacide thanks for the heads-up. I won't be using Google search.

[rasterweb@mastodon.social]

@alisynthesis @evacide Whenever someone tells me to “Google” something I say “I don’t use Google.”
and hope they ask a follow-up question so I can ramble on about alternatives.