Google Maps just fucking SUCKS now

[bugo]

Use Google.

No. Google is a shit search engine. I use Duck Duck Go, which isn't a lot better, but you can at least turn off the AI bullshit. The CEO of Google should be tarred and feathered and run out of town for putting fucking AI results which are frequently wrong at the very top. Those who aren't very smart will screenshot this AI slop and post it on social media. They really think it proves their point. I often make fun of them.

[Rothman]

Use Google.

No. Google is a shit search engine. I use Duck Duck Go, which isn't a lot better, but you can at least turn off the AI bullshit. The CEO of Google should be tarred and feathered and run out of town for putting fucking AI results which are frequently wrong at the very top. Those who aren't very smart will screenshot this AI slop and post it on social media. They really think it proves their point. I often make fun of them.

Use -ai.

[Scott5114]

The CEO of Google should be tarred and feathered and run out of town for putting fucking AI results which are frequently wrong at the very top.

He should be tarred and feathered for a lot of other reasons too. https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/

[kphoger]

Use -ai.

Keep preaching, brother, but ain't no one listening.

[Scott5114]

Google has gotten bad enough recently that, irrespective of the AI summary, I get better results on DuckDuckGo, which uses Bing for its search results. Bing is still kind of crummy but not as crummy as Google. The one thing that Google still does better is image results, although I still will try Duck images before Google because sometimes the crummy results are unintentionally hilarious.

[kphoger]

It's weird to me, hearing people talk about Duck Duck Go now, because I remember it from like 15 years ago and then never heard about it again since then.

[bandit957]

Imagine if there was a search engine that was like Google was 7 or 8 years ago.

[vdeane]

Google has gotten bad enough recently that, irrespective of the AI summary, I get better results on DuckDuckGo, which uses Bing for its search results. Bing is still kind of crummy but not as crummy as Google. The one thing that Google still does better is image results, although I still will try Duck images before Google because sometimes the crummy results are unintentionally hilarious.

I think you convinced by to try switching to DDG for my main browsing search.  Startpage has been freezing/crashing for me as of late (on everything except mobile, which makes me wonder if they're deliberately crashing tabs to try to get users to turn off ad blockers).

[gonealookin]

Google has gotten bad enough recently that, irrespective of the AI summary, I get better results on DuckDuckGo, which uses Bing for its search results. Bing is still kind of crummy but not as crummy as Google. The one thing that Google still does better is image results, although I still will try Duck images before Google because sometimes the crummy results are unintentionally hilarious.

I think you convinced by to try switching to DDG for my main browsing search.  Startpage has been freezing/crashing for me as of late (on everything except mobile, which makes me wonder if they're deliberately crashing tabs to try to get users to turn off ad blockers).

You probably want to download the "No-AI Duck Duck Go" browser extension.  Then, when you have a search result up, go into the Settings menu at the upper right of the screen and turn off the crap you don't want (notably "Advertisements").  Save your settings, and if you delete your cookies occasionally (or perhaps routinely when you close the browser), make sure "*.duckduckgo.com" is excluded from the deletion as a "Trusted Site" in order to preserve those settings.

[vdeane]

Google has gotten bad enough recently that, irrespective of the AI summary, I get better results on DuckDuckGo, which uses Bing for its search results. Bing is still kind of crummy but not as crummy as Google. The one thing that Google still does better is image results, although I still will try Duck images before Google because sometimes the crummy results are unintentionally hilarious.

I think you convinced by to try switching to DDG for my main browsing search.  Startpage has been freezing/crashing for me as of late (on everything except mobile, which makes me wonder if they're deliberately crashing tabs to try to get users to turn off ad blockers).

You probably want to download the "No-AI Duck Duck Go" browser extension.  Then, when you have a search result up, go into the Settings menu at the upper right of the screen and turn off the crap you don't want (notably "Advertisements").  Save your settings, and if you delete your cookies occasionally (or perhaps routinely when you close the browser), make sure "*.duckduckgo.com" is excluded from the deletion as a "Trusted Site" in order to preserve those settings.

I just altered the URL string to take out the AI.  I haven't noticed ads, so I assume Vivaldi and/or UBOL are filtering them out already.

The reason I had previously been using Startpage is because I prefer Google's results over Bing's, or at least I have in the past.  I have noticed that Startpage tends not to link anything other than MSN for news results, however.

[JayhawkCO]

Got this yesterday turning onto west US6 from I-25 NB.

[bugo]

Use Google.

No. Google is a shit search engine. I use Duck Duck Go, which isn't a lot better, but you can at least turn off the AI bullshit. The CEO of Google should be tarred and feathered and run out of town for putting fucking AI results which are frequently wrong at the very top. Those who aren't very smart will screenshot this AI slop and post it on social media. They really think it proves their point. I often make fun of them.

Use -ai.

No. I switched to a different search engine entirely. Even though it sucks, too. All search engines today are awful. They have become nothing more than business directories. Search for something, and 90% of the results are from companies trying to sell something. The only things I really use Google for now are email and maps. And their maps are terrible. Google sucks ass.

[bugo]

It's weird to me, hearing people talk about Duck Duck Go now, because I remember it from like 15 years ago and then never heard about it again since then.

The only reason you are hearing about it now is because Google is shoving AI down our throats, and a lot of us don't like it. If Google were still like it was in 2005, nobody would be looking for a Google replacement. AI is deeply unpopular right now. Even less popular than lettuce is. I am dumbfounded when I see an advertisement for a product that boasts about it featuring AI. AI is toxic and it blows my mind that companies are trying to use it as a positive trait and selling point.

Another thing about AI that pisses me off is the proliferation of AI-generated advertisements. Small businesses are the biggest offenders, but I have seen AI slop ads made by school districts. All of these ads look fucking terrible, and they all look the same. You can spot an AI-generated ad from a mile away. If I see an AI-generated ad for a business, I automatically add it to my boycott list. When somebody posts an AI ad for a business on social media, I call them out. I say that since they use AI, I won't be doing business with them. I also tell them that I'm far from the only one and that with a large swath of the general public, it is poisonous. They always get mad at me, but hey, I'm just warning them that their slop ads are going to cost them business. These ads are particularly thick in local groups. Don't they know how terrible those ads look? Do they care that they would take in more revenue if they paid some high school art student $50 to throw a cheap, non-AI ad together? I don't get it.

[bugo]

Imagine if there was a search engine that was like Google was 7 or 8 years ago.

Imagine if there was a search engine that was like Yahoo was 30 years ago.

[vdeane]

Another thing about AI that pisses me off is the proliferation of AI-generated advertisements. Small businesses are the biggest offenders, but I have seen AI slop ads made by school districts. All of these ads look fucking terrible, and they all look the same. You can spot an AI-generated ad from a mile away. If I see an AI-generated ad for a business, I automatically add it to my boycott list. When somebody posts an AI ad for a business on social media, I call them out. I say that since they use AI, I won't be doing business with them. I also tell them that I'm far from the only one and that with a large swath of the general public, it is poisonous. They always get mad at me, but hey, I'm just warning them that their slop ads are going to cost them business. These ads are particularly thick in local groups. Don't they know how terrible those ads look? Do they care that they would take in more revenue if they paid some high school art student $50 to throw a cheap, non-AI ad together? I don't get it.

But whatever consultant or whoever they pay for advice has told them that AI is The Future^TM, and that person would surely never lie to them, right???