I suspect that this is the direct result of AI generated content just overwhelming any real content.

I tried ddg, google, bing, quant, and none of them really help me find information I want these days.

Perplexity seems to work but I don’t like the idea of AI giving me “facts” since they are mostly based on other AI posts

ETA: someone suggested SearXNG and after using it a bit it seems to be much better compared to ddg and the rest.

  • MTK@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    333·
    3 months ago

    Having to signup and login to a search engines sounds like an annoying hassle

    • aMockTie@lemmy.worldEnglish
      221·
      3 months ago

      It’s a very minor annoyance and well worth it in my opinion.

      I was searching for a book quote for over a year. I tried every search engine, tried changing the terms, checking back several times every few weeks or so, but couldn’t find anything even close. I tried kagi and it was literally the very first result on my very first search.

      I haven’t looked back and have never had an issue finding what I’m searching for since.

    • Dave@lemmy.nzEnglish
      151·
      3 months ago

      You pay instead of seeing ads, so they need the account. Remembers you, though, so you just login once. Plus they have a solution for incognito/private windows too.

      I really like it, has some cool features.

    • Hannes@feddit.orgEnglish
      91·
      3 months ago

      You can create a search-link that includes your token so you can also use it in incognito or if you are logged out for some reason.

    • uzay@infosec.pubEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      It is. And it’s also terrible for privacy, but people do it with google as well.

    • WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]@lemmy.todayEnglish
      65·
      3 months ago

      Signing up and logging in isn’t a problem imo. I wouldn’t even mind if I had to pay for searches, but I’m not going to make it a subscription service. Unless they add an option to do something like buy 1000 searches that never expire, its not something I’d considered. I do think they beat out competitors like google with their results pretty consistently though based on the trial.

      • Dave@lemmy.nzEnglish
        172·
        3 months ago

        I’m not gonna subscription my heated car seats but search is a service that costs an ongoing amount to provide. The subscription isn’t significant, it’s $5 a month for 300 searches (or $10 for unlimited).

        I know we’ve been conditioned to expect search for free, but if we want to get away from the “the user is the product” model then I think it’s a good thing to have a subscription to a service that has ongoing costs to provide.