we all know Google’s usefulness has diminished if you’re searching for something the algorithm doesn’t have it’s nose on, personally i don’t feel searxng (i used the nicfab.eu one) gives the best or most useful results either, what’s out there?
DuckDuckGo/Brave + Kagi.
Others, more specific uses:
I use Perplexity.ai. It was so good, I ended up buying the Pro version. Google ain’t got shit on Perplexity. On the other hand, Perplexity is most useful for information that requires some sort of synthesis. It’s less useful for a basic search like definitions or where to find something nearby.
Thanks for the suggestion I hadn’t heard of this.
I just tried it to find some simple info that I struggled finding last night because I had to shovel through so much crap with Google. It definitely did a better job than Google did.
It’s sad how far the Goog had fallen.
How did you buy a “Pro” version of Perplexity? I have the app installed and there’s no option to purchase anything.
In a browser, there’s an option on the left hand bottom corner if you sign in.
Found it! Thanks!
What is different about the pro version?
You get a hilarious 600 prompts per day for copilot, which uses GPT-4.
Lol, sounds like a downgrade 😅
Desktop version. :)
Woah perplexity is awesome! They even have an iOS app. Thanks for the recommendation
It’s a good 'un.
Been using duckduckgo for years and generally gets the job done. If I want more local specific results then I’ll just add !g to my search which’ll do a Google search
Duck Duck Go is literally just Bing without the personal data. If it works for you then it works for you, but it’s good to know what you’re really using.
I’m quite aware of that fact. Not sure where I gave the impression otherwise. When it comes down to it, pretty much all the options are just proxies/aggregators for other search engines - that introduce privacy.
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I know DuckDuckGo has its own issues, but surely it’s better than Google at least?
Results wise it’s just a bing wrapper. Which is not all that good in all honesty.
SearXNG is the king
Yes!
searx.be is my favorite by far. You can get results from DDG, Brave, Startpage, etc. all in one place and it’s self-hostable
I like the paulgo.io searxng instance for most queries its fine. As for truly novel search engines that dont just scrape google, theres search.marginalia.nu and yacy.net
Great discussion.
Because it’s happened gradually I’ve just gotten used to Google being less and less useful.
It’s good to try something else.
This thread made me try Perplexity, Kagi and SearXNG. I’ll give them all a run over the next week or so and see how they go.
DuckDuckGo works in 98% of the time for me. If I can’t find something on DDG, I’ll switch to Google. But that’s only rarely needed.
I use Bing for Microsoft Rewards. You can get the equivalent of $10 a month in gift cards for your searches.
eh, i’ve been doing a mix of duckduckgo or brave’s search engine. tbh it works for basic things but i’ve yet to find a better search engine for more niche or specific queries
I like Ecosia.
It does run on Bing, but I like seeing the lil tree planting counter (•‿•)
swurl.com is a fun take on search aggregators
Kagi
Ah found url. Primo!
Dang. Another subscription model. I will stick with the less great but free brave and DuckDuckGo.
I miss the days of Alta Vista that could do searches with Boolean logic. DuckDuckGo is probably the most popular alternative.
I use Yandex when I suspect Google isn’t telling me everything.
