How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet - eviltoast

Google likely alters queries billions of times a day in trillions of different variations. Here’s how it works. Say you search for “children’s clothing.” Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for “NIKOLAI-brand kidswear,” making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren’t searching for at all. It’s not possible for you to opt out of the substitution. If you don’t get the results you want, and you try to refine your query, you are wasting your time. This is a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape.

  • misk@sopuli.xyzOP
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    1 year ago

    As much as I dislike Axel Springer, they seem to own just 20% of Qwant.

    In my experience DDG kinda sucks, when I gave it a honest try (~1 month of having it as default) I kept going back to Google too much.

    I don’t have any trouble dumping services when they go bad. I’m on Lemmy after all.