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    Building a Simple Search Engine That Works

    (karboosx.net)
    279 points freediver | 13 comments | 17 Nov 25 03:52 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
    1. shevy-java ◴[17 Nov 25 08:36 UTC] No.45951831[source]▶
    Good. Now please someone replace Google's search engine.

    I am always annoyed using it, how bad it is these days. Then I try the alternatives such as Duck Duck Go and they manage to be even worse.

    Qwant is semi-ok but it also omits tons of things that Google Search finds (and also is slower, for some weird reason).

    Google's UI nerf is also annoying - so much useless stuff. In the past I could disable that via ublock origin but Google killed that for chrome.

    We need to do something against this Evil that Google brought into this world.

    replies(3): >>45951852 #>>45952104 #>>45952206 #
    2. ku1ik ◴[17 Nov 25 08:38 UTC] No.45951852[source]▶
    Try kagi.com. I tried and stayed. It’s paid though.
    replies(1): >>45951887 #
    3. dyml ◴[17 Nov 25 08:45 UTC] No.45951887[source]▶
    I also used Kagi, but decided to cancel my subscription last year when it was revealed they pay Yandex for their search, which is a Russian company that ultimately fuels the Russian war on Ukraine.

    Once Kagi stops transferring money to Russia, I’d be happy re-subscribe.

    replies(2): >>45951922 #>>45955890 #
    4. ramon156 ◴[17 Nov 25 08:52 UTC] No.45951922{3}[source]▶
    Do you have a source how funding yandex funds the war? Yandex is a great search engine, so I would hate to find out that this is true
    replies(2): >>45951953 #>>45951970 #
    5. b2ccb2 ◴[17 Nov 25 08:58 UTC] No.45951953{4}[source]▶

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex#Legal_issues_in_Ukraine
  https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/publications/zois-spotlight/the-sad-fate-of-yandex-from-independent-tech-startup-to-kremlin-propaganda-tool
    6. ninalanyon ◴[17 Nov 25 09:01 UTC] No.45951970{4}[source]▶
    It's based in Russia so it presumably pays taxes and salaries in Russia.
    replies(2): >>45953089 #>>45958948 #
    7. MrAlex94 ◴[17 Nov 25 09:29 UTC] No.45952104[source]▶
    Not quite independent as it’s a meta-search, but I developed a subscription based one at search.waterfox.net. Pays for the infrastructure costs and remains ad/tracking free.
    replies(1): >>45952500 #
    8. renegat0x0 ◴[17 Nov 25 09:50 UTC] No.45952206[source]▶
    - How many people use only Google search engine nowadays? More and more people use chatbots, with Google search.

    - Google search also does not provide good results for finding stuff in all walled gardens, so we also use niche search engines for individual platforms. I am not sure if it finds good results for posts in facebook and x.com

    - I also use my own index of pages, YouTube channels, and github pages. Contains tags, page scoring system, related links, social information like number of followers etc.

    https://github.com/rumca-js/Internet-Places-Database

    So in a way, it has being replaced. It just takes some time for people to switch.

    9. SyneRyder ◴[17 Nov 25 10:55 UTC] No.45952500[source]▶
    Nice! I couldn't see the list of search engines that are included in your meta-search, the FAQ currently seems to imply that it only serves Google results?

    If you give users the option to include / not include certain search engines in their results, so their money never goes to those particular engine companies, that could be of interest to some Kagi refugees.

    I ended up vibe coding my own meta-search engine (augmented with a local SQlite database of hand-picked sites) so that I could escape Kagi, but I'm excited if Waterfox Search is an alternative I can recommend to others!

    replies(1): >>45953547 #
    10. crashmat ◴[17 Nov 25 12:44 UTC] No.45953089{5}[source]▶
    All American companies pay taxes to America which is basically always commiting atrocities so I don't think that's a strogn enough reason on its own.
    11. MrAlex94 ◴[17 Nov 25 13:53 UTC] No.45953547{3}[source]▶
    Currently only Google, but Brave and Mojeek are going to be made available as well very soon
    12. vjvjvjvjghv ◴[17 Nov 25 17:37 UTC] No.45955890{3}[source]▶
    I have the feeling that, if you look a little closer, a lot of products you are using are supporting atrocities somewhere directly or indirectly.
    13. ipaddr ◴[17 Nov 25 22:11 UTC] No.45958948{5}[source]▶
    .ru is but .com is based on Europe with different results for each.