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1. LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 12:29:01 UTC LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}
   “You can’t beat Google when it comes to online search. so we’re paying them to use their brilliant search results in order to remove all trackers and logs. The result: The world’s best and most private search engine. Only now you can search without ads following you around, recommending products you’ve already bought. And no more data mining by companies with dubious intentions. We want you to dance like nobody’s watching and search like nobody’s watching.” — https://www.startpage.com/
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   • GeniusMusing (geniusmusing@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 12:33:53 UTC GeniusMusing

     in reply to
     @lnxw48a1 My DDG-Foo has gotten much stronger these days. Rarely use G fed pages.
   • LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 12:54:40 UTC LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to

     • GeniusMusing
     @geniusmusing #DDG is my primary search engine. #YaCy is my secondary. I still end up switching to #StartPage / #Google / #Seeks for 2 or 3 out of 10 searches because search results aren’t satisfactory.
     Brandon Hall likes this.
   • GeniusMusing (geniusmusing@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 12:57:40 UTC GeniusMusing

     in reply to
     @lnxw48a1 I am about 1 in 10/12 these days depending on what I am searching for.
   • Billy Blaze 🦄 (ckeen@vernunftzentrum.de)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 13:02:10 UTC Billy Blaze 🦄

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     • GeniusMusing
     • Billy Blaze 🦄
     @lnxw48a1
     
     Would you like to tell us some more about your #YaCy setup? I have tried that several times but I could not get it to display any results for me?
     
     @geniusmusing
   • LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 15:31:35 UTC LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to

     • GeniusMusing
     • Billy Blaze 🦄
     @ckeen @geniusmusing
     
     I used to host #YaCy on a #VPS, but I’m currently using metager.org (because search.yacy.net has been broken for a little while)
     Billy Blaze 🦄 likes this.
   • LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 16:39:49 UTC LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to

     • GeniusMusing
     • Billy Blaze 🦄
     @ckeen @geniusmusing
     
     The #VPS setup was Debian, 4GiB of RAM. I changed the #YaCy settings to use up to 2GiB of that. YaCy was installed and regularly updated through APT. I allowed it to connect to the “OneWorld” network of peers. I think It used port 8090.
     
     No other services were installed.
     Billy Blaze 🦄 likes this.
   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 18:31:23 UTC The Human

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     @lnxw48a1

     Except that they still show you ads which seem to be targeted in some form (they're always for things in my local area when I look) and they still use a #PRISM partner's black box results, so #Google (and partners) are still controlling what you can and can't see with no real oversight.

     I'll keep using #Qwant, thanks (European search engine run by a non profit with their own search index).

     Https://qwant.com

   • LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 20:54:58 UTC LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to

     • The Human
     @blort I haven’t seen any ads ;-)
     
     Qwant seems to be okay. I haven’t used it enough to know how well it would meet my expectations.
   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Thursday, 31-Jan-2019 20:56:41 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @lnxw48a1
     I've found Qwant's search results to be worse than DDG's.
     @Blort
   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 15:31:06 UTC The Human

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     • Johnny Null

     @johnnynull @lnxw48a1

     Quite possibly. It misses the point though. For just search result quality, just use #Startpage, with Google's index. If you don't want a profit minded company deciding what everyone gets to (not) see though- don't use their index. #Qwant has their own and they're non-profit. #DuckDuckGo uses a mix including #Bing, #Yahoo with their own. More biased than Qwant, worse results than Startpage. Personally I use Qwant for 95% and Startpage where I don't find the result I need.

   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 15:55:39 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @Blort @lnxw48a1 I does not miss my point at all. Relevant, useful results.
   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 15:56:19 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @Blort @lnxw48a1 It does not miss my point at all. Relevant, useful results.
   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:02:46 UTC The Human

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     • Johnny Null

     @johnnynull @lnxw48a1

     My point was that for some people such as myself, relevant, useful results are only a part of what I care about, not the totality.

     If that *is* all you care about, why not just use Startpage? Do you feel DuckDuckGo actually has more relevant, useful results than Startpage's source Google?

   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:06:53 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @Blort
     Actually I have been finding Startpage's results to be far worse than they used to be, yes.
     
     I trust you're aware that Startpage doesn't just get unfiltered results from the Goog.
     
     For completeness's sake, DDG used to have shit results, now it's quite useful. Startpage used to be my daily driver, but now it's actually searx.
     
     @lnxw48a1
   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:15:10 UTC The Human

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     • Johnny Null

     @johnnynull @lnxw48a1

     Interesting. Are you sure about that? I hadn't heard otherwise and, while I'm aware that Wikipedia isn't infallible, it states "Startpage exclusively uses results from Google, which the company pays Google for." and has a source.

     ...Or are you saying that they take results exclusively from Google and then filter them in some way? I'd be interested to hear more, especially if you can supply any sources.

     #Startpage #Wikipedia #Google #Search #Privacy

   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:20:04 UTC The Human

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     • Johnny Null

     @johnnynull @lnxw48a1

     Heh. If #Startpage's results have been getting worse, maybe it's just because the results it gets from #Google have been getting worse. 🙄

     I'd be impressed though if #DuckDuckGo was actually managing to provide better search results than Google, while still also being superior in terms of privacy.

   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:23:48 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @Blort @lnxw48a1 I am exceedingly sure about it. I recall seeing something else slide by talking about altering of results. If that pops back in my head I'll pass it along.
     
     Meanwhile from https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/184/22/why-do-i-get-different-results-with-startpagecom-than-google:
   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:24:01 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @Blort @lnxw48a1 "We have noted that occasionally Google provides different results to Startpage than they offer to the general public, for reasons that are not entirely clear."
   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:39:07 UTC The Human

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     • Johnny Null

     @johnnynull @lnxw48a1

     Thanks, if you do come across that, I'd be very interested to read it!

     It's unclear from that link though, whether there's anything going on beyond that they're getting different results by removing #Google's "personalization" (aka filter bubble).

     If there is, it reinforces the point that we need to get away from black box, proprietary, for profit search algo's/indexes. Eg. who's to say #Bing and #Yahoo aren't doing similar things with results going to #DuckDuckGo?

   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 16:45:47 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @Blort
     >You're welcome.
     
     >It's pretty clear that it is beyond the "bubble". You didn't bother to read the linked article.
     
     >Who knows? Speculation.
     @lnxw48a1
   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 17:00:28 UTC The Human

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     • Johnny Null

     @johnnynull @lnxw48a1

     I read the article.

     Ultimately it seems (correct me if I'm wrong) that you're saying you get better results from #DuckDuckGo's combining of results from #Bing, #Yahoo, #WolframAlpha etc. with their own index, than from the results #Google returns to #Startpage, right?

     Great.

     Meanwhile I'm saying I'd rather have search algorithms and indexes that are transparent and not controlled by for profit companies that often have a conflict of interest.

     Did I miss anything?

   • LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 17:04:26 UTC LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864}

     in reply to

     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @blort @johnnynull I noticed years ago that #DDG’s results differ from #Yahoo’s, which differ from #Bing’s. Non-bubbling may be part of it, but it doesn’t explain the sharply different results (or at least sort order of the results) between the Bing and Yahoo.
     
     It doesn’t surprise me that #Startpage’s results differ from #Google’s, even beyond the filter bubble.
     
     As for which to use, I use a variety, including Startpage, but the main one is determined mainly by quality of results, and Startpage’s results are generally inferior to #DuckDuckGo and to #Searx & #Seeks (but far superior to #YaCy or the abysmal results that #Ask gives).
     Brandon Hall likes this.
   • The Human (blort@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 17:08:33 UTC The Human

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     • Johnny Null

     @lnxw48a1 @johnnynull

     Yeah, I really wish #Yacy had better search algorithms. I'm sure that a lack of more people running it to index the web plays a big part in its poor results, but then when I ran it, it returned poor results even for things that I personally indexed, so the algo (even though it can be user tweaked) has to be at least part of the problem.

     LinuxWalt (@lnxw48a1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} likes this.
   • Johnny Null (johnnynull@not.unixporn.pro)'s status on Friday, 15-Feb-2019 17:09:05 UTC Johnny Null

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     • The Human
     • Johnny Null
     @Blort @lnxw48a1 Yes. You're missing that I was solely talking about my results with DDG v Startpage. I couldn't care less what you use.