Re: when "google it" became usless

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vnatale
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Re: when "google it" became usless

Post by vnatale » Sun Jun 28, 2020 12:30 pm

Simonjester wrote:
I am looking for a new search page.. i have been using "start page" for quite a while now but unfortunately they, and most other secure searches are largely a "let me google that for you and not tell anyone" system, and google has stopped being good at finding things..
originally google was amazing you could find anything with a small set of search terms, now it has devolved to the point of useless.

yesterday i wanted to find, and post a link for you all on the YouTube junky page.
the video i wanted was an animated short that appeared on Canadian TV in the mid to late 1970s, it was about a boy who walked on his hand and saw the world upside down, it was by modern terms an incredibly subversive message about thinking for yourself and not following the crowed.
3 or 4 years ago i remembered this video found it easily with a couple short searches using the description above and found information about the filmmakers etc etc...
now using the same description and search terms i get a ton of Disney crap, anime and zero results that have anything to do with the 1970s, or animated short films.

any alternative searches out there with a good algorithm? .. dark web or off the radar stuff maybe? as much as i don't like it I will sacrifice privacy for functionality at this point?


Have you tried Bing? I abandoned Google for Bing since around 2013 and I've been quite happy with the decision. The only time I know use Google is for Google Book.
Simonjester wrote:
i used bing for a little while when it was still fairly new, at that time google was still a far better search, so i gave up on it, unless it has greatly improved, and Microsoft isn't as interested in directing, profiting from, and censoring results, which is unlikely, i doubt it is what i am looking for..

i will experiment with it again out of curiosity but my expectations are low..

i think i just miss the good old days when a search was a search and not a company's way to collect your data direct you to their products, and influence your opinion..
Simonjester wrote:
well i will be darned... bing found the video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjBn2YE ... e=emb_logo

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401252/
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
flyingpylon
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Re: when "google it" became usless

Post by flyingpylon » Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:02 pm

The search engines are all a bit different and “the best” is very subjective. I use Duck Duck Go by default but if I’m really looking for something sometimes I also try Google and Bing. YouTube itself is actually the world’s #2 search engine. There used to be (and maybe still are) search aggregators that would search multiple engines for you at once but I don’t have one handy at the moment.
Libertarian666
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Re: when "google it" became usless

Post by Libertarian666 » Sun Jun 28, 2020 7:06 pm

Simonjester wrote:
flyingpylon wrote:
Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:02 pm
The search engines are all a bit different and “the best” is very subjective. I use Duck Duck Go by default but if I’m really looking for something sometimes I also try Google and Bing. YouTube itself is actually the world’s #2 search engine. There used to be (and maybe still are) search aggregators that would search multiple engines for you at once but I don’t have one handy at the moment.
hitting up multiple engines may be the only way.. an aggregator would be cool to help with that..

a YouTube search also didn't bring up what i was looking for.. its results were identical to google ... imagine that...
Amazing! It's almost like they were related to one another somehow...
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Re: when "google it" became usless

Post by flyingpylon » Thu Jul 02, 2020 8:49 am

I saw an article today about Google alternatives:

https://fossbytes.com/google-alternativ ... ch-engine/

Searx is a "privacy-respecting metasearch engine" that lets you search multiple engines with one query. https://searx.me/

Their site lists public instances of their search engine, and you can choose one that looks good. Before performing a search you can click on Preferences to select the search engines to be used to return results.

If you don't trust any of those public instances, you can even download the code and run it on your own server.
Simonjester wrote: searX looks promising, i am going to experiment with it over the weekend..
thanks!
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