Search Engines

[Paul Whybrow]

As writers, we spend a lot of time looking for information, so a responsive and accurate search engine is essential.

So far, only one search engine has entered the language as a transitive verb....Google. It proves its dominance, in the same way as hoover is the common term for using a vacuum cleaner.

I've become increasingly dissatisfied with Google, mainly for its inaccuracy. Asking a question of Google reminds me of the way that politicians never answer the question posed by the interviewer—they always answer a different question. Google is annoying too, for the way it prioritises stuff for sale. Its personalised search function is more of a hindrance than a help.

As this Wikipedia article notes:

Several concerns have been brought up regarding the feature. It decreases the likelihood of finding new information, since it biases search results towards what the user has already found. It also introduces some privacy problems, since a user may not be aware that their search results are personalized for them, and it affects the search results of other people who use the same computer (unless they are logged in as a different user)

I don't want to see the same results regurgitated from a month ago.

I usually forget to use Bing, but sometimes turn to DuckDuckGo:

DuckDuckGo vs. Google: The Best Search Engine for You

An article in Fast Company mentions DuckDuckGo and four other search engines:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90388493/these-5-great-alternative-search-engines-do-what-google-cant?

Which search engine do you rely on?

 

[Eva Ulian]

I find google does tend to come up with info that IT wants to put before you not what YOU want specifically. But then, don't they all?

 

[Emily]

I don't use Google anymore, only Duckduckgo. Google's problems are worthy of many hours of ranting which I will spare you, because life is just *too short*.

 

[RK Wallis]

I use Google, but I hadn't realised I had a choice (I'm a tad isolated)! I'm checking out their competition. Thanks for mentioning this.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I went over to using DuckDuckGo three days ago. It's faster and more accurate than Google.

Asking Google something is like talking to the village idiot. I was trying to remove a sticky app that would not uninstall, no matter what I tried. I googled how to uninstall it. The first 40 answers were for how to install it. I ran the search again, adding -install, which should have excluded such results, but it gave me exactly the same answers. It's as if Google doesn't understand English, giving users the opposite of what they asked.

 

[Emily]

It's faster and more accurate than Google.

Asking Google something is like talking to the village idiot.

I found exactly that, too, Paul! And your village idiot comment made me lol