When I do a web search, I do not want Google to go to the websites for me, pull the information, and interpret it for me. I want it to give me a list of websites that I can read and evaluate myself because AI is frequently wrong: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/google-search-as-you-know-it-is-over/
Post
Replies:
31
Boosts:
4
@evacide it's the end of the world(wide web) as we know it and I feel fine
(because I search the whole web less and less and if I do it's not through google)
Just for fun I tried using the "AI mode" (like there's still another kind), and prefaced my search with "Please give me a classic set of google search results, with absolutely no AI summary, for the following terms:"
I got about ten results. It couldn't resist prefacing it with something like "Here are web results for your query", which technically breached the request.
@evacide
I've started just asking AI to give me links to the websites. Just tell it "give me a list of websites that I can read and evaluate myself".
@evacide Not to pimp out my youtube channel, but I did a video on a few Google alternatives a month and a half ago. Could be it's helpful.
Yeah, I first saw reporting on this kind of thing a month or two ago. Google just decided this is the way the web will work now unilaterally and companies are expected to reshape their websites to provide raw materials for Google to fashion content from.
It’s fucking bullshit
Shrug. I switched to duckduckgo years ago.
I like Ecosia. You can turn AI off and it plants trees when people use it.
@evacide When I was using Safari with duckduck on it, I always turned off AI and search assist. I wouldn't install duck (those settings would've stayed) because last time I did that on my last laptop, I couldn't uninstall it.
When I see anything AI, I quickly check what I missed doing. I type out 90% of my typing because I don't want to lose my typing skills or abillity to spell.
It's a long way of saying that I totally agree with you.
@evacide Ask Jeeves should've hung on a little longer..
@evacide I just changed the default search engine on my phone and will do the same everywhere else once I get back home.
@evacide Agreed. And even if it’s not wrong, it might not be pulling all information from the website. What caveats might people be missing when they only rely on AI overviews? A lot!
Researching for papers always made me happy. Later, I used to Google so deep for so many things. It was my goal to find shit people gave-up looking for. Hell, I used to get a hit on Page 10.
I collected so many gigs of football uniform reference through Goog and the many small websites hidden in corners that it would find with the right guiding.
I quit using it entirely maybe 5 years ago.
Don't get around much. Anymore.
@evacide This is why I self-host a SearXNG instance. Too many search engines deciding what I need to see, so I ask them all to get a more complete answer.
Same here! The only complaint I have is the constant rate-limiting, but otherwise, knowing I'm effectively using ALL THE ENGINES (and with none of the LLM slop) is great for my usage case
@evacide hard agree.
search engines these days, even when not using AI, aren't returning useful links. It's all "what can I sell you related to your search" instead of "here is the information you requested" and its driving me nuts.
@evacide I hate everything google. I stopped using their search, maps, and gmail in the 2000s and I haven't missed any of it. As of last year, I finally moved to a Fairphone with /e/OS, so no more google evil in my phone. No one needs google and I'm amazed that anyone still uses their anything.
@evacide this will also kill the rabbit hole. No curiosity. No discovery.
@evacide The midwest of the US, has over 75% increases in power costs, and their aquifer existing millions of years, is now in direct threat toward extinction - and it's because of #TechBros #greed, heaping #DataCenter #AbuseOfPower upon the innocently ignorant masses.
We're now forced to accelerate desalination, without the benefit of competing energy sources other than #FossilFuels
These abusers must be replaced asap, with ethical #RootInfrastructure #scientists.
@evacide Why are you still using Google?
@evacide at my work if you use Edge or Chrome, an admin policy prevents changing the search engine from Chrome. I can't really use Firefox because 1) Threatlocker prevents me from installing extensions and 2) admin policies prevent me from copying text out of Service Now and other apps.
I've been lobbying for awhile to allow us to change search engines so hopefully this gets that moving.
@evacide One more reason to degoogle (at least for what concerns searching)
@evacide why think when you can… “not think” I guess is the desired state?
