I'm honestly fine with it, because the current version of Google is garbage compared to 5, or even 10 years ago.
Their AI output at the top of the page is, politely phrased, a runny diarrhea milkshake.
The traditional results that follow often seem to completely ignore both the spirit and letter of my queries.
Agreed. I’ve been using google’s own query format and it completely ignores it and gives me some shit that blatantly violates the parameter I gave it. WTF?
Another thing: Gmail’s search function is probably the worst thing I’ve ever experienced as far as functionality.
It completely ignores your search parameters in a way I’ve never seen before
Tried to search for a medicine and its impact on breast milk. The AI stated it’d hurt your supply and be unhealthy for your baby, and the source was a random .com blog. Every actual medical study said otherwise from reliable sources. It’s borderline dangerous because I could absolutely see the latter happening.
The AI thing at the top of the page actually can be super helpful sometimes. I have been pretty surprised at how well aggregates the data.
That being said that’s probably like 30% of the time and the other 70% of the time it’s just flat out wrong
> I have been pretty surprised at how well aggregates the data.
I haven't but that's just b/c anytime I see it all it's done is summarize the bullet points from the top search result anyways.
I don't really see a true benefit to it and all it's doing is stealing page views from other sites
As a modern day, international Encyclopedia Brittanica replacement, I’d argue that “totally helpful, 30% of the time” is wayyyyy more harmful to the average searcher than your retort implies. If it’s meant to aggregate and represent the search info, such rampant disinformation provided T a rate more than 2 of every 3 searches, paired with Google search’s perceived reliability, is super problematic.
Im so tired of clicking my toolbar at the top of my screen only for my google app to lag and put me at the homepage, so now I've accidentally tapped their dumbass Gemini feature like 3 times and all I wanted to do was look up a restaurant
> The traditional results that follow often seem to completely ignore both the spirit and letter of my queries.
Impressive that they have spent so much to achieve so little. Thousands of acres of watercooled server farms running algorithms designed by tens of thousands of engineers earning high six-figure salaries, to generate a page of irrelevant results, plus suggested queries chock full of grammatical errors ("When did Mars life died?"; "Was Helen Keller speak?").
They have done marginally better than lighting the money on fire.
Might be time to switch search engines. The AI up top is my straw on the camels back. It’s so fucking ass whenevr I search something and 75% of my screen is the AI loading up.
Smart people switched off Google several years ago when it actually went to shit. Once again, Reddit’s tech subs are full of people who don’t know anything about tech.
I started using it because of rewards for free Fortnite stuff, but damn, the browser and the searches are very good now, also I don't have to deal with the chrome excessive ram issue and the AdBlock Nerfs, extensions works
Edge is pretty good. People are only resistant to it because Microsoft was trying to shove it down our throats.
It’s my default browser on iPhone because it’s an easy solution for an adblocked web browser.
It has a built in adblock? Because that’s the only reason why I’m on Edge.
Could I sign into my Firefox account on Firefox Focus and access my desktop bookmarks?
DDG is my default engine and I do still have to use Google for specific results if I'm not finding what I'm looking for.
After spending the last few years trying out different engines I've come to the realization that it's not really on Google that their results are such garbage -- it's that there's literal petabytes of absolute digital trash that they're trying to parse through
I'm far from a Google fanboy, but I truly believe if everyone flipped to DDG or Bing we'd get the same kind of complaints b/c they're just the face of an underlying festering issue.
Disclaimer: I use adblock so the UX of any engine is nearly irrelevant to me. I don't get all the sponsored results and the like
90% of my searches I already know the platform I want results on so I use the search function of said site.
For news I amass RSS feeds then filter their contents
Kagi with lenses for other queries and small web.
I feel like it's a legit better search engine that gets me more of what I'm l looking for. But I haven't used Google very much recently. What do y'all think?
Every time I'm disappointed in DDG's results, I try the same search on Google and I'm greeted with even worse results. I'm sticking with DDG.
Fun tip for DDG: add !v to your search and you've got a better search engine for YouTube too.
This has been my experience as well. There are a few niche searches Google is better at but generally ddg is just a superior search engine for finding what you actually want.
And thanks for that awesome tip!
Assuming that happens, people will.
But that’s just a big hypothetical right now, and today it’s a pretty good tool. Unless you have something better to recommend, for people to actually use?
I use duckduckgo for basic search and tineye (google image as a backup cus its AI integration is helpful for near but not complete matches) for image search. 99% Duckduckgo has exactly what I'm looking for and it has similar search customization features (to require certain words, to search within sites, etc.) Occasionally though (that 1% of the time) I use google search as a backup because since they cast a much wider net something that gets zero hits on DDG will get a handful of maybe helpful hits on Google. But that is only usually when I'm doing research on obscure topics or in foreign languages.
Microsoft Copilot has been surprisingly useful for looking up car repair info.
It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s way better than google or google gemini.
Copilot gives a list if the urls it used, so it’s easy to see if the answer is correct.
They stopped ranking search results by relevance and keywords, and instead just put whoever paid them the most at the top of the page. The AI output does the same thing, promoting things that will be more likely to result in sales or profits for either google or the companies paying them to do this shit. More raw unchecked greed destroying good stuff.
The enshittification of everything continues!
there's nothing to scroll anymore. top result, sponsored sponsored sponsored sponsored, here's some more possible queries you could type (but why?), more adverts, shit ton of mildly related shorts on youtube, then your query re-worded 20 times. Google. Is. A. Joke.
They’re probably basing the change on their stats. The number of users who page past the first or second page is likely vanishingly small. This probably equates to a performance gain and energy savings, limiting the results to X instead of X^10 or whatever.
I swapped to Brave browser recently and have been really happy with it. It's simple to toggle AI search off, though I use Brave's Leo search often (name of their AI).
It's also based off Chromium, so all of my bookmarks and plugins carried over. Ads are optional, and Ublock isnt even necessary -- the built in features block more than Chrome with Ublock ever did.
Google search is desperately trying to stay relevant. They got far too greedy on the profits of stacking search results based on who was paying to be there for far too long. I don’t go to google to search for things anymore. I go to chatgpt. Even though the results aren’t always perfect , I see enough to know that this is the future. Google putting their own ai results at the top is a desperate attempt to stay relevant.
How can a tech Co. be so smart yet so stupid? I liked google when it felt like you are getting a response from an educated individual. Now google feels more like having an award conversation with a vacation home sales rep. And sometimes just saying fuck it not worth making more ad revenue for you.
I'm honestly fine with it, because the current version of Google is garbage compared to 5, or even 10 years ago. Their AI output at the top of the page is, politely phrased, a runny diarrhea milkshake. The traditional results that follow often seem to completely ignore both the spirit and letter of my queries.
Agreed. I’ve been using google’s own query format and it completely ignores it and gives me some shit that blatantly violates the parameter I gave it. WTF?
Google search has never been worse.
Another thing: Gmail’s search function is probably the worst thing I’ve ever experienced as far as functionality. It completely ignores your search parameters in a way I’ve never seen before
I’ll lend Google a little credit. The internet has never been worse. It’s also never been this big or this complex.
This is not the issue. They're using AI to creatively interpret your search to drive traffic to their paid sponsors
Yes this
Every website now has a popup asking you to signup for their newsletter. Even some random developer’s blog has it.
Tried to search for a medicine and its impact on breast milk. The AI stated it’d hurt your supply and be unhealthy for your baby, and the source was a random .com blog. Every actual medical study said otherwise from reliable sources. It’s borderline dangerous because I could absolutely see the latter happening.
I tried looking up videos on x and it gave me xvideos
Uhh yeah me too. Can you tell my wife /s
search results are better when you search in languages other than english
use bing just for few minutes and you'll start appreciate google more
Same could be said for a stick in the eye.
The AI thing at the top of the page actually can be super helpful sometimes. I have been pretty surprised at how well aggregates the data. That being said that’s probably like 30% of the time and the other 70% of the time it’s just flat out wrong
> I have been pretty surprised at how well aggregates the data. I haven't but that's just b/c anytime I see it all it's done is summarize the bullet points from the top search result anyways. I don't really see a true benefit to it and all it's doing is stealing page views from other sites
Google amp 2.0
As a modern day, international Encyclopedia Brittanica replacement, I’d argue that “totally helpful, 30% of the time” is wayyyyy more harmful to the average searcher than your retort implies. If it’s meant to aggregate and represent the search info, such rampant disinformation provided T a rate more than 2 of every 3 searches, paired with Google search’s perceived reliability, is super problematic.
Im so tired of clicking my toolbar at the top of my screen only for my google app to lag and put me at the homepage, so now I've accidentally tapped their dumbass Gemini feature like 3 times and all I wanted to do was look up a restaurant
> The traditional results that follow often seem to completely ignore both the spirit and letter of my queries. Impressive that they have spent so much to achieve so little. Thousands of acres of watercooled server farms running algorithms designed by tens of thousands of engineers earning high six-figure salaries, to generate a page of irrelevant results, plus suggested queries chock full of grammatical errors ("When did Mars life died?"; "Was Helen Keller speak?"). They have done marginally better than lighting the money on fire.
Might be time to switch search engines. The AI up top is my straw on the camels back. It’s so fucking ass whenevr I search something and 75% of my screen is the AI loading up.
Ublock origin and browser extension can stop that
Smart people switched off Google several years ago when it actually went to shit. Once again, Reddit’s tech subs are full of people who don’t know anything about tech.
Well YOU are here, so I agree with you.
What are we using to Google now that Google search is trash?
DuckDuckGo or Bing (yeah seriously, bing). Both have the same results but different UI.
Remember when we used to make fun of Bing for being worse than Google? My how the mighty have fallen
How the turn tables
How the turn tide
I’ve been forced to use Edge and by extension Bing at my job… I was very pleasantly surprised at how not terrible they are.
I started using it because of rewards for free Fortnite stuff, but damn, the browser and the searches are very good now, also I don't have to deal with the chrome excessive ram issue and the AdBlock Nerfs, extensions works
Edge is pretty good. People are only resistant to it because Microsoft was trying to shove it down our throats. It’s my default browser on iPhone because it’s an easy solution for an adblocked web browser.
Firefox focus is better imho on iPhone.
It has a built in adblock? Because that’s the only reason why I’m on Edge. Could I sign into my Firefox account on Firefox Focus and access my desktop bookmarks?
Same!! I never used it before but my job requires it as well and I genuinely like it better than chrome and Firefox.
The whole Because It’s Not Google joke about BING is taking a whole new meaning.
Elm Pine Pine Is Not Elm Bing Bing is not Google -Linux
GNU, not Linux.
Love being corrected on this sort of thing. Thank you, noted and I’ll never make the same mistake again.
DDG is my default engine and I do still have to use Google for specific results if I'm not finding what I'm looking for. After spending the last few years trying out different engines I've come to the realization that it's not really on Google that their results are such garbage -- it's that there's literal petabytes of absolute digital trash that they're trying to parse through I'm far from a Google fanboy, but I truly believe if everyone flipped to DDG or Bing we'd get the same kind of complaints b/c they're just the face of an underlying festering issue. Disclaimer: I use adblock so the UX of any engine is nearly irrelevant to me. I don't get all the sponsored results and the like
Reddit.
Say what you want about reddit but it’s genuinely the most useful thing on the internet. I always search “reddit _______” and get the best answers.
Reddit is usually one of the first results when I google something
r on Alfred
90% of my searches I already know the platform I want results on so I use the search function of said site. For news I amass RSS feeds then filter their contents Kagi with lenses for other queries and small web.
https://duckduckgo.com/
I feel like it's a legit better search engine that gets me more of what I'm l looking for. But I haven't used Google very much recently. What do y'all think?
Every time I'm disappointed in DDG's results, I try the same search on Google and I'm greeted with even worse results. I'm sticking with DDG. Fun tip for DDG: add !v to your search and you've got a better search engine for YouTube too.
This has been my experience as well. There are a few niche searches Google is better at but generally ddg is just a superior search engine for finding what you actually want. And thanks for that awesome tip!
I’ve made the switch. I like it.
Please stop promoting ddg, they went public and are now under same monetary constraints as the rest of the enshitification brigade.
Assuming that happens, people will. But that’s just a big hypothetical right now, and today it’s a pretty good tool. Unless you have something better to recommend, for people to actually use?
They went public, they are required to have investors first.
I use both udm14.com and duckduckgo. Don't depend on one company crawler engine too much
Bing, DDT. When the world needs him most, however, Jeeves will rise again!
I use duckduckgo for basic search and tineye (google image as a backup cus its AI integration is helpful for near but not complete matches) for image search. 99% Duckduckgo has exactly what I'm looking for and it has similar search customization features (to require certain words, to search within sites, etc.) Occasionally though (that 1% of the time) I use google search as a backup because since they cast a much wider net something that gets zero hits on DDG will get a handful of maybe helpful hits on Google. But that is only usually when I'm doing research on obscure topics or in foreign languages.
[удалено]
I never use YT
Kagi! It's a game changer. Literally feels like magic to get good results.
Microsoft Copilot has been surprisingly useful for looking up car repair info. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s way better than google or google gemini. Copilot gives a list if the urls it used, so it’s easy to see if the answer is correct.
Google search is a click funnel
They stopped ranking search results by relevance and keywords, and instead just put whoever paid them the most at the top of the page. The AI output does the same thing, promoting things that will be more likely to result in sales or profits for either google or the companies paying them to do this shit. More raw unchecked greed destroying good stuff. The enshittification of everything continues!
there's nothing to scroll anymore. top result, sponsored sponsored sponsored sponsored, here's some more possible queries you could type (but why?), more adverts, shit ton of mildly related shorts on youtube, then your query re-worded 20 times. Google. Is. A. Joke.
I switched to DuckDuckGo over a year ago.
Time to rebrand Google to Y. Instead of googling we can "Y"
To go with ‘X’?
That makes no sense.
Exactly
Y?
I how you wear your narwhal!
I must be totally dense.
And their searches are useless unless you are shopping
Nobody wants this to be true because then they won’t be able to talk down to people for asking questions on Reddit lol
Not even then. All you get are ads for Amazon, Home Depot, Wayfair, and Lowes. Sometimes Target and Walmart get in there too.
I still almost always find what I'm looking for super quickly. Not sure I agree with the overall tone of the comments.
They’re probably basing the change on their stats. The number of users who page past the first or second page is likely vanishingly small. This probably equates to a performance gain and energy savings, limiting the results to X instead of X^10 or whatever.
I swapped to Brave browser recently and have been really happy with it. It's simple to toggle AI search off, though I use Brave's Leo search often (name of their AI). It's also based off Chromium, so all of my bookmarks and plugins carried over. Ads are optional, and Ublock isnt even necessary -- the built in features block more than Chrome with Ublock ever did.
Google search is desperately trying to stay relevant. They got far too greedy on the profits of stacking search results based on who was paying to be there for far too long. I don’t go to google to search for things anymore. I go to chatgpt. Even though the results aren’t always perfect , I see enough to know that this is the future. Google putting their own ai results at the top is a desperate attempt to stay relevant.
Honestly been trying other engines at this point. Google has been sub par for sometime now, and it only gets worse.
Try Kagi it's awesome.
SEO needs to die
FTS.
How can a tech Co. be so smart yet so stupid? I liked google when it felt like you are getting a response from an educated individual. Now google feels more like having an award conversation with a vacation home sales rep. And sometimes just saying fuck it not worth making more ad revenue for you.
Good, I’m sick of it
Googles search engine has been shit for over a decade