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Comment by loosetypes | Hacker News Reader

For maybe the first time I can recall I wasn’t able to locate a webpage via google search yesterday.

(Described in my last comment if anyone knows the source)

Seemed like every attempt to better describe it as a query took me further from what I was looking for.

Results were all (from my perspective) SEO hijacking, clearly having nothing to do with my search. And that was behind the wall of advertisements and their own google cards of noise they plug up front. Going to the next page of results was surprisingly difficult.

First time I’ve considered, maybe this is the wrong tool for traversing the memory palace of one’s interactions with the internet.

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Based on my experience on search engines recently, it seems like SEO hijacking has gotten easier recently. Queries that would pull up the page I was expecting are now delivering 5 or so copycat pages before the actual one I'm looking for.

Honestly I've stopped using Chrome and always use DDG, and Firefox is my default web browser now. I've ditched Chrome for good as Firefox is just as good and I feel less creeped out.

I think the era of "free stuff for your data" is over. People have witnessed the true cost of a zero barrier social network services which is the division of society and people creating their own realities and clashing with others (ex. flat earthers, trump etc.)

Going forward I expect lot of these decentralized, run-by-donations services to trend upwards. We will still have FB, Google, and the likes but as they lose users their pervasiveness will have to increase to compensate for the loss in users.

This is good. This is what blockchain should've been but couldn't.

I used to love Firefox so much before but recently its starting to feel less user friendly than freakin' Chrome the way it shoves changes down my throat. I still cant even stand that huge address bar that goes down to my taskbar, that was one of the major reasons I moved away from firefox just because of how ugly that and the address bar zoom was

i agree that they should revert this to how it was before, but if you want, you can fix it:

https://www.ghacks.net/2020/04/08/how-to-restore-the-old-fir...

> I think the era of "free stuff for your data" is over.

I don’t think it is, but I share your optimism that perhaps people are starting to realise and understand the real cost of “free stuff” from advertising companies.

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