I know it’s been getting worse over time, but I could still find what I needed after some digging.

Recently it’s been like 10 minutes of adjusting search terms, still getting completely useless or irrelevant results, and me just giving up afterwards. Other search engines seem just as bad.

  • Smokeydope@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I used to a hater of Kagi but honestly its a damn good alternative search engine. They are doing some actual innovation and are very transparent. I still prefer a good searXNG instance but searxng is more for technical people who understand decentralized meta search instances. Here’s my simple guide on search engine alternatives to help you get away from google best you can.

    Google is finally collapsing under the weight of its own greed and lack of innovation. Now other companies are showing up to steal their lunch especial with the big monopoly case going on right now.

      • sudneo@lemm.ee
        0·
        2 months ago

        An article full of inaccuracies, but the most interesting bit is, all these conversations are possible because they clearly explain their views, which are publicly available on their website (for example, the philosophy behind the use of AI - which BTW is opt-in).

        How is that an example of being opaque is beyond me.

        • LucidNightmare@lemm.ee
          0·
          2 months ago

          Might want to go through and click the hyperlinks. Otherwise, I got nothing else to tell ya homie. It’s all right there.

      • angrystego@lemmy.world
        0·
        2 months ago

        Thank you both, Smokeydope and LucidNightmare. That was an interesting read! I gave SearXNG (paulgo.io) a try and it was a refreshing experience, I’m going to start using it regularly to see how well it does.

        • LucidNightmare@lemm.ee
          0·
          2 months ago

          Thank you for actually reading what was provided! SearXNG is pretty good, and I kinda want to give self hosting it a try! Good luck on the hunt!

        • Smokeydope@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          I am glad to have helped you out! @angrystego I hope you enjoy searxng and it bcomes a useful tool in your life. Paulgo is an excellent first instance choice. It was my daily driver when I wrote up that guide and seems to still hold up well today.

          Now I use search.inetol.net and can recommend that as a good alternative in case paulgo isnt quite what you’re looking for or has too many timeout api errors. As always its a good idea to visit searx.space and try out some of the top instances with highest response time.