Hacker News Reader

Comment by mahoho | Hacker News Reader

I mean, maybe it's because you named your search engine "Cliqz"

I can only think that name sounded much better to German ears, as that's where it started? Yes, to me it's reminiscent of clique, which is not a word I like, but with a mutation that makes it seem dubious and low-rent.

To me as a native English speaker, I don't get "clique" - it both sounds and looks like some kind of scammy ad company though. The name just exudes sleeze. I've seen the name several times on HN, and would never have guessed it was a search engine!

'Cliques' sounds less sleazy than 'clicks'. Cliqz somehow sounds like the website equivalent of a video porn booth, just in the search industry instead.

Definitely doesn't sound better to German ears. It always sounded like some scammy browser plugin or toolbar from the 90s.

As a German, to me the name always sounded scammy.

You might also have gotten that impression when it auto-installed through unrelated chip.de downloads [1], without a way to opt out.

This [2] post also documents Cliqz being covertly auto-installed with .NET Framework.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/74vt08/psa_huber_b...

[2] https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_m...

> This [2] post also documents Cliqz being covertly auto-installed with .NET Framework.

No, it documents the same thing as the other link - that unrelated chip.de downloads (including .NET Framework, though I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would source that from chip.de) are by default wrapping any downloads in a "secure CHIP installer" which is chock full of dodgy adware installations, apparently including Cliqz without any mention or option to remove.

Yes, the default installers from chip.de were embedding Cliqz and used malware distribution techniques to have Cliqz stealthily installed along with other software. The important part is that Chip and Cliqz are owned by the same parent company, Hubert Burda Media.

I wasn't referring to the official .NET Framework installer either that's shipped by Microsoft.

TIL about Hubert Burda Media. They also own Cyberport, Focus, HolidayCheck, the German Huffington Post and Xing.

Hah! So much for my attempt to be generous.

People mocked the name "Google" as impossibly silly when they first launched. (And did you see their first logo [1]?) Names mean absolutely nothing.

[1] https://cdn.digitfreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/google...

Okay, but "Google" doesn't sound like a stereotypical spyware company.

...alright, maybe it does now, but still.

But... "Cliqz" sounds like an existing word that does mean something? So?

Google sounds like googol.

Should have gone with Queery

If you're looking for opportunities, we have an opening in our branding department, where I think your talents will fit well.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com