this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2024
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Using a search engine that isn't saturated with ads and AI trash also solves this problem.
I stopped using Whoogle (Privacy engine using Google search) because of the bad search results. Google's fault of course.
Trying SearxNG now.
SXNG has been great for me. Submitted a PR to add more quick-answers, too.
Same with startpage because google indexing becoming horrible.
But I have some cons. with searxng, earch quality becomes horrible when adding too much sources, and I decided to go with ddg.
Got any recommendations?
DuckDuckGo
I don't know if Bing's search results are better than Google's.
They all suck.
for me it's much better. I don't think they directly use Bing search by the way, just their index. the algorithm should be theirs if I'm not wrong.
Using duck duck go is pretty good for me, if I go to bing.com, My results are horrible. Of course it's the same result set, but I expect I'm getting less algorithmic shuffling on DuckDuckGo.
Startpage if you like Google, DuckDuckGo if you like Bing.
Searx.space
I started paying for Kagi. Works like Google in 2019. Fast, useful and customizable. One of the best features is hiding results from shit sites like Reddit, which blocks me for using a VPN. $10 well spent just to have that option.
It is the best on the market but unfortunately they just use Google underneath plus their own blog index. And at least to me it seems it isn't going in a better direction.
why would you block reddit results? it's often useful (at least when related to tech, possibly other topics too). I would recommend to install libredirect instead, which redirects reddit to a libreddit/redlib frontend
I believe what he is saying is that he can’t load Reddit results because Reddit blocks his VPN, so blocking Reddit from search results is useful to him
oh, you're right. still, my advice should be able to solve that
I do that with the Firefox plugin "Block or Highlight Search Engine Results" from pistom (on github).
Upside: I can see what was hidden in case I need that and it really helps with visibility.
I've found the $5 a month tier to be just about right. There have been a few months I've gone over, but they make that super easy to deal with: they just change the subscription renewal date and you start your next month a few days early.
Which other trustworthy search engines are there? And I don't mean some different frontend or a meta search engine like ddg, sp, kagi, searx(ng), etc... that mostly just use googles, bings or even yandex and beidu results?
Ages ago I configured and hosted yacy for myself, but that was a different time... Are there any real alternatives? With mayor internet companies like cloudflare, social media sites and many others restricting the access to the net and information, searching becomes more and more impossible if you aren't a huge corporation...
FYI kagi does its own indexing, it’s not just a frontend
The two criteria I suggested were "not saturated with ads and AI trash" (technically just the latter would satisfy OP's problem), and DDG meets both of those with no problem. Its AI "assistant" and its ads can both be trivially disabled. I use DuckDuckGo because I love its frontend and because it gives me fewer problems than Google did. I've only ever used alternative search engines that piggyback off the major ones (as you listed: DDG, Startpage, and SearX), so someone else would have to answer that for you.
Well, you and I just have a different understanding of "search engine" then. For me a search engine is something that doesn't forward queries to third parties.
Searx is fancy about it though, It queries everybody and gives you the results that came back from multiple places. This effectively eliminates ads, AI, and unless they all missed it, spam.
I have nothing against any meta search engine, they are very useful, and I use them primarily as well.
However, they are not a true alternative, because they depend on third-party services. The same as Invidious is a very useful, but also not an alternative to YouTube itself, just a different user interface.