this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2024
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No Stupid Questions

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I know it's been getting worse over time, but I could still find what I needed after some digging.

Recently it's been like 10 minutes of adjusting search terms, still getting completely useless or irrelevant results, and me just giving up afterwards. Other search engines seem just as bad.

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[–] Zerlyna@lemmy.world 41 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

The results are usually the most clicked, not necessarily the factual links. Others have recommended kagi. I haven’t tried it yet. I remember when the internet started and you had to use them all!

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I'll have to try kagi some time

EDIT: subscription based... Idk, definite maybe on that one.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Is that the one that costs money? You can't have a true incognito search if that's the case.

[–] ironsoap@lemmy.one 13 points 1 month ago (2 children)

True, but worth reading their about page and privacy page. Not saying it'll stay this way, but the way they are running is something that makes more sense then being sold as a product to Google. And you aren't getting much of an incognito these days with all the fingerprinting they are doing.

I will admit kagi search isn't the highest performer, but it's viable. DDG, Start page, etc. Might give you more privacy, or not (hard to tell with DDG these days), but it might be worth trying a different model for a while.

I miss the days when the internet was truly free, but in lieu of that we have to have something better. Kagi is a start.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago
[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago
[–] Steve@communick.news 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You can't have? Or you can't be sure?
Because you certainly can have. Just because you pay, doesn't mean they will log your searches. In fact Kagi claim they don't. And since their only income comes from paying users. If anyone ever found out they're lying about that, they'd quickly loose a big chink of subscribers and income. As well as get sued for fraud. So it's rather unlikely they do.

Unlike every other search provider, Kagi is the only one with a business model that ensures it's users are the customer, not the product. When actually using it every day, that's quite obvious in the results. Even when you search for a company directly, it's Wikipedia entry is usually the first result. The the company site is the second.

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee -3 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Steve@communick.news 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Not being sure was part of my point. We can't be sure. But all their incentives are aligned in the right way. That's the best we can hope for. And better than any alternative right now.

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I understand the sunk cost fallacy, but I truly think you should read that entire page, friend... That's all I'll say though! :)

[–] Tinks@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How many times are you going to post that link? We have seen it, and at this point you're just spamming.

We get it, you don't like Kagi. Stop spamming the thread.

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee -2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well, considering I was about to start using the service, I’d say that I was just trying to help others out. I’m appalled at the shit Vlad has said, and so should others.

So, again, sorry for trying to point out that the CEO of Kagi does NOT care about privacy, GDPR, or transparency!

You can ignore the fucking link if you don’t like it, and keep being blissfully ignorant all you want! :)

[–] sudneo@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

So, again, sorry for trying to point out that the CEO of Kagi does NOT care about privacy, GDPR, or transparency!

Privacy != anonymity. They satisfy the most important aspects of the GDRP, like data and scope minimization, clear explanation of what data they collect and why, a fantastic privacy policy. They don't let you download a file with your email address in it, woah.

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Cherry picking the one thing doesn't make your argument any more sound, homie...

Feel free to keep sticking up for Vlad daddy. I'm sure he'll reward you with a few more extra searches this month. :)

[–] sudneo@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I answered with more stuff in other comments, but you didn't address any of that anyway.

I personally have no brand faith, I am a happy customer and the moment the company doesn't adhere to my principles I will dump it. There is no sunk cost as it's a running subscription (you keep mentioning this, so I though I will say it).

That said, if I see someone claiming they have a "blase" approach to privacy or they don't care about it, I will point out that this is complete bullshit. Using the missing "download my data" feature to support this claim is outright pathetic.

To be even more precise, as a socialist I don't like many of Vlad's ideas that tend towards libertarianism. That said, the company has a good amount of worker ownership, it operates on principles I currently respect and that are miles higher than the standard tech company. I am absolutely in favour of supporting positive business in a field where companies are disgusting on average, and in cases evil.

Now, if you have anything else than childish arguments I am happy to discuss them. I have pointed to a number of inaccuracies in the article, there are outdated data (like the number of employees) and subjective views from the author. You are posting this article everywhere like it's some kind of holy grail of gotchas, when it's not. There are some good points (financial reporting exists, is not 100% transparent - which is not due, the amount spent for the t-shirts was IMHO not a great idea, etc.), but the fundamental points against the company are shacky at best. As I said elsewhere, all the shpiel about AI etc. is fully addressed in kagi own site where they clearly explain what they mean, for example. The features are actually pretty nice, even for someone like me who is not a fan of LLMs, and the results are quite accurate (the post author claims they are almost always wrong) from my experience.

BTW my searches are unlimited :)

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I posted the article to create AWARENESS, homie. I even said I was looking to use Kagi myself.

I have nothing else to fucking address, because IT IS RIGHT THERE ON THE WEB PAGE WITH HYPERLINKS. Those same hyperlinks will bring you to your fucking answer! READ it, just like I did.

By the way, sunk cost fallacy. A subscription doesn't change anything about it. lol

[–] sudneo@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I read the post, hence my points. I am not really looking for answers, because I don't have questions, I had observations. You on the other hand seem to have your whole opinion formed on this inaccurate post, and I would expect someone in your position to look for more perspectives, when you clearly are not. You seem instead on a crusade against the company (good for you), and even if all the post was true, because they spent too much on t-shirts, invested too much in AI products (that I repeat, are opt-in)? Because they don't comply with a technicality of GDPR? Lol Ok, more power to you.

Also, what I mean by a subscription is that I cancel it and I am done. I didn't invest in it in any shape or form, what I paid I consumed already, there is no feeling of wasting previous investment in a running subscription.

Judging from your attitude, your lack of content, your very annoying "homie", your inability to address any point against the content of the article, I am guessing either you are the author and you are butthurt that is not taken as gospel, or you just have ulterior motives and you are here just to stir shit (instead of "spreading awareness"). Either way, I have already invested too much time writing responses to your silly comments. I will show you how good I am in avoiding the sunk cost fallacy and block you, despite the time invested in the conversation.

Cya

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago

Yep! All true! Have a good one!

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Incognito is on your client side browser in that the browser doesn't retain any trace of the current session once you close the tab. The search engine still knows what you whacked off to.

[–] inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

True Incognito mode is a myth, it only stops keeping a history in the tab of that browser. Everytime you use a browser to go to any site ever, the browser logs you went there. So does your ISP and the site your connecting to. No matter which mode or browser you use, if you go to Google, then Google knows you went there and logs your searches.

The closest you can come to browsing the web anonymously would be with a mix of dedicated privacy OS like Tails and either a VPN or Tor as a middile man, but that assumes those proxys are not corrupted. Free VPNs make money by selling your "secret browsing" habits.

The internet is nothing more than wires, if you connect your wire to someone elses, every intermediatary knows.

[–] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You can use uBlock Origin and other privacy add-ons to block tracking and a VPN to hide your IP address but if you're logged in to a search engine's account then everything you search is tied to you no matter what you do.

[–] themoonisacheese@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If you're logged in a vpn that's also true of the vpn, and all these measures are not stopping FAANGS

[–] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Good VPN providers take certain measures to ensure your anonymity.

[–] themoonisacheese@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

A vpn is not a proxy and cannot do anything to protect you beyond changing your exit point. You are not anonymous using a vpn, especially not with any vpn that has servers in a five eyes country.

[–] db2@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Not if you used Dogpile. Also it still exists somehow.

[–] TheBeesKnees@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've used Kagi's free trial. I'd turn to it when nothing else was helping and it did really well, but recently it hasn't been helping either. It's probably still fine for most things, but I'm often searching niche developer/programming things that are too burried under SEO/AI spam to find anymore.

[–] sudneo@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

FWIW, the default "programming" lens works quite well in Kagi, you can also create your own lens if you have a set of websites from which you routinely search info, and there are tons of bangs already (which can also be mapped to lenses BTW). In addition, you can downrank AI/SEO stuff when you find it (it is downranked by default in kagi), so that over time your results are quite clean.

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Got some bad news about Kagi, folks...

[–] Zerlyna@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Hmm maybe Dogpile it is then!

[–] LucidNightmare@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

I was just about to try Kagi out and then ran into this post of a bunch of different search engines. Dogpile is not on there, so maybe I need to look it up now!