Divorcing Google

[Alex Snyder]

I haven't been a fan of Google for many years, but they're proving they're untrustworthy to the extreme. Manipulating search results for their own bias of beliefs is a line too far. Aside from YouTube, which is still an excellent DIY tool, we have removed Google from our household. In business, we were already seeing more and more traffic from other search engines, so it already made sense to start moving the budget over.

• Google is the better home assistant, but we got rid of all the Google Home devices and have fully adopted Siri in Apple HomePods
• Moved away from Chrome to the Brave browser which is a Chrome clone for those times when Safari or Firefox aren't good enough
• Duck Duck Go, Bing, and Brave have been my main search engines for a while. I have not personally used Google search in years
• Twitter and Reddit are playing a more significant part in my online searches

Even though Alexa and Siri could also be biased, diversifying data sources reduces the chances of being misled. As home assistants, we don't really use them as news sources anyway.

Have you made any moves to reduce your Google usage?

 

[Alex Snyder]

Oh - almost forgot another reason why Google lost my trust. They keep sunsetting products I use(d).

 

[Carsten]

But but all those instruction pages that google posts on how to SEO properly!
Google would never misguide you!

Recently, we I basically gave up google was because of simple search. I searched for something and got basically the opposite answer. The subject matter for this discussion is irrelevant. What is though, is the result set. I already knew about the bias. You could tell by how a lot of information was being censored even though a few years prior I could find certain topics.

Is ChatGPT the answer? In a lot of ways yes. In other ways it's even worse than google.

I asked it for how many used car dealers are there on average per US continental states.
It replied back 1000.

me: "why did create your own hypothetical math?"

chatGPT: "The reason I initially provided the estimate of "approximately 1,000 used car dealers in each of the 50 continental US states" was to give a quick, rough calculation based on an assumed total number of used car dealers across the country. It was intended as a ballpark figure to help illustrate a general point, not as a precise or data-backed statement."

also had this as an aswer:
"No, I didn't lie, but I see how the phrasing could have been misleading. The initial estimate I provided was a rough calculation using a hypothetical total number of used car dealers divided by the number of states. When I referred to "available data" later, I was acknowledging that specific, detailed data for each state would give a more accurate picture, which I didn't have at that moment."

I wonder if we are trying this new LLM that they released. I couldn't believe that chatGPT would create some random answer.

don't trust this tech either.

 

[joe.pistell]

Perplexity.ai

Example:
https://www.perplexity.ai/page/dealerrefresh-progressive-car-3zeW2M3BT5eNHo3QBNIY9Q
DealerRefresh, founded in 2004, has become a leading online forum for progressive car dealers and automotive professionals to discuss industry trends, share best practices, and explore innovative strategies. The platform covers a wide range of topics, from digital marketing and CRM systems to emerging technologies and operational best practices, fostering a collaborative environment where dealers can learn from each other and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.

 

[Chris Cachor]

Yea it will be interesting the upcoming iOS/OpenAI deal. Google is the current browser search provider, but OpenAI also just rolled out SearchGPT - which has the potential for Apple to get into the search game. Maybe not in browser due to their Google contract, but as a part of Siri and other services.

 

[Jon Singo]

The decline in quality of Google search has been fascinating to watch. Enshittification at its finest. You get the feeling it's no longer trying to help you solve for X but only trying to sell you Y, completely monetizing the engine. I'm too far down the Android/Google ecosystem to go back but I've pulled away from Google search and will second @joe.pistell 's recommendation of Perplexity. Great app and web UI.

 

[Carsten]

Perplexity isn't bad at all. Ever since Joe mentioned it here I use it on and off.
Old habits die hard and what I search for chatGPT still fits my needs better.

I agree with Jon. Google is jumping the shark and people are no longer thinking Fonzi is cool.

 

[joe.pistell]

Enshittification at its finest.

haha, ty for that link Jon!

 

[joe.pistell]

Solve this riddle. there are 30 cows in the field and 28 chickens. how many didn’t​

When my pals think AI is google search on steroids, I tell them to solve the riddle above. Then, copy/paste it into google, then, into perplexity.ai or claude.ai or GPT.

How long before Google Search (and it's $237.86 billion in ad revenue) is toast?

p.s. paste it into Google's Gemini and it FAILS.
p.p.s. image made by GPT4o
#MindBlown

 

[Carsten]

I think about this AI vs Search topic on and off.

1 thing that I keep thinking about is that search is going to become part of the device OS and search is going to be more and more specialized. There will be no need to have what we call browsers today. The OS will be the browser. Hmmm, Microsoft probably did see the future before they got stopped.

The 1 thing that scares me the most is that answers are going to become censored or filtered as to what is returned. Look at chatGPT. For what I use it for, I don't need to go to sources like Stack OverFlow for coding answers. I can just keep redefining what my ask is and paste the code over and over until I get a working solution. Censorship is obvious too. ChatGPT will block your search and call you out for what you asked it. Will there come a time when you're conflicting search gets reported?

No, at the moment. Generative AI can not replace coders.
It can't replace doctors or musicians and artists either.
Not yet.

I see similar coming to connected vehicles. Will the vehicle prevent you from speeding or will it allow it and report you to your insurance and your rates will become based on surge pricing? Or will it even report you to the authorities and you get a ticket with proof.

Will most of society no longer need the ability of discovery of rabbit hole discoveries? Will the internet morph into a more consolidated YELP style of information sourcing?

Japan recently held ceremonies for the nuclear bombing. How will I be able to research into a darker topic that goes against a narrative that is unofficial?

What kind of future will we see?