Originally Posted by
FullOppositeRudder
A few weeks ago I came to realise that the long trusted and much used (100%) Google search engine was no longer what it used to be. Searches were light on both detail and scope, and obvious "hits" were not showing up. I could no longer restrict my search to within Australia or worldwide as in the past. The situation deteriorated to the degree that I've now relegated the Google icon from the main bookmark toolbar to obscurity, and replaced it - initially with Bing (which didn't last long) - and now Duck Duck Go which seems to be filling the gap.
One of the Oz newspapers suggests that Google has given the operation of the Search engine over to AI expecting it to be a radical improvement, but also reporting that the Search facility has become (as I have discovered) almost useless as a consequence.
Has anyone else noticed this, or perhaps have some extra information on the situation as reported?
Regards,
FOR
A very good move going to DuckDuckGo. Their search results are actually provided by Bing, but without the ads and privacy issues that you get using Bing &/or Google.
A great function of DDG are the 'Bangs'. e.g. type !guk 'searchterm' in the search box, and DDG will invoke a Google UK search. !a searches Amazon, !imdb searches IMDB, !w searches Wikipedia, and many more.
Full list of Bangs here -
https://duckduckgo.com/bangs
Google and Bing are both feeling their way forward atm, with AI top of their mind. So far it's not working terribly well for the users, with a bit of a mess on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page), of AI overviews, ads and, if you're lucky, a relevant website further down the page. It's not working too well for the website publishers either, as the AI overviews lead to an increase in 'zero click' searches, where browsers get their answer on the SERP, so don't click through to anyones website.