CORRECTION: Wired have deleted this story because they got it greviously wrong. Corrections rarely have the impact of the original story but this one is categorically wrong.

"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."

I suppose it's predictable but I feel like everything I've used on the Internet has just publicly turned to dirt in the last 18 months.

https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/

A Note From WIRED Leadership

WIRED
@neilcar A quick boost for the search engine I've switched to: kagi.com
I have to pay a $5-10 monthly subscription, but I actually feel like the beneficiary, as opposed to advertisers or executive compensation packages.

@quaken @neilcar

How does it do with click-farm auto-generated results? I paid for Neeva for a while (until they shut down) and they were generally good — except this was a plague.

@mattdm @quaken I haven’t noticed it as an issue but you can test up to a certain number of queries a month for free.

@neilcar @quaken

I'll give it a go. I've been using qwant.com, and it is fine, except for not great at 1) anything that's kinda recent and 2) "what's this obscure error message?"

@mattdm @quaken I feel like 2) is my primary search engine use case.