I suspect that this is the direct result of AI generated content just overwhelming any real content.

I tried ddg, google, bing, quant, and none of them really help me find information I want these days.

Perplexity seems to work but I don’t like the idea of AI giving me “facts” since they are mostly based on other AI posts

ETA: someone suggested SearXNG and after using it a bit it seems to be much better compared to ddg and the rest.

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1063·
    2 months ago

    they’re pretty bad, but ddg at least feels like I’m getting actual results.

    • pHr34kY@lemmy.worldEnglish
      152·
      2 months ago

      I prefer DDG, but I hate the news search. 90% of the results are paywalled.

      Oh, and sometimes the image search will return a pile of porn for a seemingly clean search request. I once searched for “R34 Skyline” expecting Nissans, and got VERY different results without safe search.

      • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        22·
        2 months ago

        is it? that kind of makes sense, because I still use Bing occasionally while Google is completely out of rotation, although I don’t find Bing as good as duckduckgo.

        edit: it is not! looks like the DuckDuckGo search engine is an aggregate of hundreds of search engines, including their own duck duck bot, excluding Google but including some Bing results.

        • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          2 months ago

          Their FAQ hems and haws about that, but (in the past) I’ve done side-by-side tests and found identical results. Maybe something’s changed, maybe it hasn’t.

          • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            41·
            2 months ago

            it must have done by now, then, I get different results from identical prompts in DuckDuckGo and Bing although both are usually relevant.

            “DuckDuckGo’s results are a compilation of “over 400” sources according to itself, including Bing, Yahoo! Search BOSS, Wolfram Alpha, Yandex, and its own web crawler (the DuckDuckBot); but none from Google.”

            are you having trouble finding something specifically or you just don’t like the quality of the search results you’re finding in general?

            definitely if you’re still on Google, stop using it.

            It’s completely useless at this point.

    • finitebanjo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      2 months ago

      DDG often gives me results for individual words of the search but not results for all of the words in that order for which to have contextually relevant results.

      I often find myself forced to brave the shitshow that is google search.

      • pyre@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        that’s weird. the search results should still prioritize your search as is over variations, but not limit it. do you try searching in quotations to force the specific search exactly?

      • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        11·
        2 months ago

        have you tried the duck assist thing yet?

        If you’re trying to talk to the search engine more like a chat assistant, that sort of response might be what you’re looking for.

        • finitebanjo@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          2 months ago

          Fuck Duck Assist all my homies hate Duck Assist and I keep having to turn it back off again.

          Whoever made it should get cancer and not have their children show up or call them back.

          • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            11·
            2 months ago

            haha, whaaat why?

            I just saw it for the first time today, it seems to mostly quote incredible sources rather than amalgamating responses.

            you got some issues huh, poor fella?

            • finitebanjo@lemmy.worldEnglish
              13·
              2 months ago

              I’m sorry I hurt your feelings and made you want to defend an LLM that approves copy pasted wikipedia snippets, but maybe you should go eat some ass?

              • Varyk@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                11·
                2 months ago

                “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings”

                I feel only pity for you.

                reading your comments is like watching a diseased guinea pig nibble on its own scabs.

                “an LLM that approves copy pasted wikipedia snippets”

                duckduckgo’s llm tool offers relevant information from credible sources.

                that is good.

                Good luck unbunching those panties.

    • Fizz@lemmy.nzEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Yeah DDG is great. The only thing I find is its not good at local results but a quick !g on the end gets me the local results im looking for.

        • Lvxferre@mander.xyzEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          Redirects your search to Google. You can put it anywhere in the search; for example !g how do i shot web, how do i shot web !g and how do i !g shot web will all land you into Google.

          There are other 13k (yup) bangs like this. Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Yahoo, Quora, most gaming wikis, etc. A few sites (like Google and Bing) have multiple bangs, that land you directly into a specific page (e.g. !bv searches Bing videos). More info here.