"I have spent decades looking for examples of Google putting its enormous thumb on the scale to censor or amplify certain results, and it hadn’t even occurred to me that Google just flat out deletes queries and replaces them with ones that monetize better.”
Absolutely bonkers. The Google antitrust trial discovered that Google is actually *changing user queries* in order to generate results that give more sponsored ads
https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/
@peterbutler realising Google was doing this a few years ago was the big mover for me to use something else. I just didn't get relevant results from it as a search engine anymore.
For people looking for an alternative, Start Page has revolutionised my ability to actually find what I'm looking for. There are ads, but they are clearly labelled and once you scroll past them you see the kind of sites you haven't seen in years, with exactly what you want.
From the article:
>> 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.
Peter Butler
Dr Ro Smith
rsp
⌛️🧮 Bruce Carnwell (🐣 & 🌴)