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Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 13:09
by Segata
All of them. Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Yahoo, Searx, Startpage. We know by now that they've switched goals; rather than help you find things, they want to steer you into the direction of political correctness and mass media. The first 30 results are the same article reproduced by 30 fishy pajeet sites, the image reverse search will refuse to give you better image quality, filters can only do so much... we know that if we want to solve certain tech problems, we need to type 'site:www.reddit.com' next to our query. People are using AI for the search needs because it's understood that normal search engines won't help you on that front. What can be done about it? is it a lost cause? why isn't there a single company that realizes there's an untapped market in providing accurate results instead of (((personalized))) ones?

Another example of stuff that worked years ago but now it doesn't and you gotta accept the decline, chud.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 13:11
by rusty_shackleford
Segata Sanshiro wrote: February 26th, 2023, 13:09
we know that if we want to solve certain tech problems, we need to type 'site:www.reddit.com' next to our query.
wot

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 13:15
by WhiteShark
rusty_shackleford wrote: February 26th, 2023, 13:11
Segata Sanshiro wrote: February 26th, 2023, 13:09
we know that if we want to solve certain tech problems, we need to type 'site:www.reddit.com' next to our query.
wot
I know what he means. It's not restricted to tech, either. Sometimes it's just easier to find an answer to some niggling little 'how to' question by searching for a reddit thread specifically than sifting through the garbage search engines turn up.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 13:48
by Dead
Putting before:2020-01-01 next to the query helps filter out the more egregious results. But it doesn't help the scrambled "smart" search results. It also helps alleviate the time scope limiting effect of infinite scrolling.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 13:53
by rusty_shackleford

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 13:56
by Lhynn
Aye, completely broken and utterly useless nowadays. Though its not just because of the bias, most of the internet relevant content seems to have migrated to reddit/instagram/ticktock/discord. Both Instagram and ticktock block webcrawlers, while most people making webpages know how to fool the algorithm.

Its just an absolute mess and there doesnt seem to be an easy fix.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 14:05
by Dead
Forums used to be easier to search with search engines. But like Lhynn says forum users migrated to reddit/discord/facebook groups. Reddit is heavily censored and the voting system kills interesting discussions. Discord is a tranny hive. Facebook groups used to be the most like old forums, but Facebook groups died and those users aren't returning to forums or making new forums. I heard it's not easy for small businesses and individuals to get their websites listed in search results unless they are familiar with how search engines work. Some of the things I miss the most about the old internet are thoroughly customized webpages made by individuals or small businesses that reflected their personalities.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 15:40
by Nemesis
You can host your own instance and customize it to your needs.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 16:52
by Gastrick
Looking it up directly on 4plebs is necessary if you are looking for something specific that is political. Other search engines will returned junk or left-wing biased results.
I tested this out, and it returned responses to a question that were very tedious and time consuming to find when looking it up earlier. It also linked a superior answer within the first 8 results.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 17:02
by J1M
I noticed a similar problem with email spam filters. 5 years ago it appeared to be a solved problem. Now it shows up in my inbox at least once a week.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 21:23
by Gregz

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: February 26th, 2023, 22:15
by Ranselknulf
Using this improves search results?

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 17th, 2023, 22:09
by somerandomdude
I found that one of the solutions was to add certain websites to block lists so they don't show up in search results.

It requires more effort, work arounds and digging to find a relevant answer to a question from a search than it did 10 years ago for example. And it's likely to get worse, not better. Depending on how much worse it gets, the person saying "I'm too lazy to google it" might have a fair point.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 17th, 2023, 22:15
by J1M
Soon AI will be able to build and host those useless websites cluttering up your search results.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 18th, 2023, 14:23
by Ranselknulf
I've tried using chatGPT in place of traditional google searches when I've looked for random answers, as a starting point of course. If chatGPT doesn't know the answer, it will simply make something up or lie to you.

It seems to give concise and better answers a lot of the time. Then I can tailor specific search engine queries that way. I haven't tried asking chatgpt to make me a search query on a topic, but that might be a viable option too.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 18th, 2023, 19:27
by Maggot
I've had to stop using Brave Search because they put their own AI generated results at the top, which are often nonsense.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 18th, 2023, 21:22
by Dead
Maggot wrote: March 18th, 2023, 19:27
I've had to stop using Brave Search because they put their own AI generated results at the top, which are often nonsense.
It's even worse than Google.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 21st, 2023, 02:38
by Lutte
https://wiby.me/

Finally something that can cure the internet for good. Look at this wonder. No ad-riddled, jabba the script overloaded crap. Just plain old internet websites and forums.

Geez, the codex is on page 1 of a search as generic as just the term 'rpg'. Not bad. Could do better though: I submitted the HQ to the index.

I wish I had known about this sooner. Let's submit more content to this wonderland.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 21st, 2023, 22:37
by Emphyrio
I fucking hate the internet now. The only good thing left is Archive and that might be gone once they lose the lawsuit.
J1M wrote: March 17th, 2023, 22:15
Soon AI will be able to build and host those useless websites cluttering up your search results.
They already are, have been for years.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 21st, 2023, 22:41
by KnightoftheWind
Even video sharing sites have become unwatchable, other than a few reactionary channels I've basically sworn off them.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: March 21st, 2023, 22:52
by Klerik
On the other hand, it's great not to be subject to the full view of the human asshole while trying to find the nearest BBQ joint.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: June 17th, 2023, 08:43
by Norfleet
On the other hand, Goatse is pretty nostalgic at this point.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: April 20th, 2024, 13:03
by Segata
They are just getting worse and worse. Even trying to find simple stuff is not possible anymore, every search engine will actively ignore your actual query. I am angery.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: April 20th, 2024, 13:09
by Oyster Sauce
Segata Sanshiro wrote: April 20th, 2024, 13:03
They are just getting worse and worse. Even trying to find simple stuff is not possible anymore, every search engine will actively ignore your actual query. I am angery.
take the blackest pill of all: adding "reddit" to the end of each search

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: April 20th, 2024, 17:39
by A Chinese opium den
Oyster Sauce wrote: April 20th, 2024, 13:09
Segata Sanshiro wrote: April 20th, 2024, 13:03
They are just getting worse and worse. Even trying to find simple stuff is not possible anymore, every search engine will actively ignore your actual query. I am angery.
take the blackest pill of all: adding "reddit" to the end of each search
But reddit blocks my vpn servers so I can't even use that :mad:

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: April 20th, 2024, 17:53
by madbringer
I dunno what u guys complain about, you only have to have indepth software knowhow, know exactly what to look for, purposefuly manipulate search results with filters and then manually sift thru waste results.

It's fucking fine.

Search engines are utterly broken

Posted: April 20th, 2024, 18:22
by asf
theres nothing useful to find anyway