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In 2016, Instagram API restrictions made it difficult for third-party search engines to work. In 2016, Instagram API restrictions made it difficult for third-party search engines to work.
History

In June 2016, Instagram changed their API in a way that restricted access to third-party search engines and web viewers.

This was bad because back then, Instagram's built-in searching capabilities were severely limited. You could only search user names and single hash tags, but not more advanced things like descriptions, multiple hashtags, and date ranges. I don't know if they added it by now because I haven't used Instagram for several years.

Third-party tools like Hashtag Pirate had searching capabilities well beyond Instagram's built-in searching tool. From what I remember, Hashtag Pirate allowed filtering by type (photo or video) and date range, and allowed filtering by multiple hashtags. There was also a search engine which could search descriptions but I don't remember its name.

Third-party viewers like Websta.me, Enjoygram (later renamed to Pikore), InstaGravity, Instaliga (the few I remember) also were more lightweight and therefore worked more smoothly on older devices. Instagram's own website always relied on heavy JavaScript and consumed lots of memory.

Some also showed details about a post that were not shown by the Instagram website, like the exact date a post was uploaded. Instagram itself used to show "weeks ago" only, but they added exact dates in the late 2010s I think.

Third-party viewers also featured different layouts that may be preferrable to Instagram's own web interface. For example, Websta.me had a side-by-side view, meaning it used to show pictures on the left column and description+comments on the right column, and you could change the view (example I found in the archives).

The API was also used by bulk exporting tools like InstaPort.me, which also ceased to work.


今から11月5日までの期間中、「GTAオンライン」でスーパーカー「ベネファクター クリーガー」を無料で受け取ることができます。あなたの乗り物コレクションに、このオールラウンドなハイパーカーを追加してください。さらに、ラグジュアリーオートのショールームからシーズンにぴったりなオレンジと黒の「クリーガー」も受け取ることができます。
今から11月5日までの期間中、「GTAオンライン」でスーパーカー「ベネファクター クリーガー」を無料で受け取ることができます。あなたの乗り物コレクションに、このオールラウンドなハイパーカーを追加してください。さらに、ラグジュアリーオートのショールームからシーズンにぴったりなオレンジと黒の「クリーガー」も受け取ることができます。



Sterilized search engines, worse browsers. Help me out here please. Sterilized search engines, worse browsers. Help me out here please.
Sterilized search engines, worse browsers. Help me out here please.

TL:DR: Solutions for Google taking its index out back like old yeller. —Browsers are basically in a chain vice, Search engines provide slop, data privacy is a myth prevented by hardware embedded instruction set. I am autistic and would rather build a program and train a small language model than be slightly inconvenienced in all areas of my life. Constructive suggestions, feedback or criticism please. This shit has been putting me in real distress.

This is something that is extremely frustrating to me because it gets in the way of literally every field of study I’m in whether direct diagrams for plumbing work that I know exist but just forgot to bookmark after having to spend hours to find it. to software programming basic searches being flooded with SEO garbage slop that doesn’t even address the search or match it at all even with tagging.

I find even further that the related guides I find are all about data privacy, which I am presenting as redundant but there’s really nothing wrong with making sure your data is safe. There’s just a line between being cautious about data privacy and blatantly ignoring that there’s a net loss of data available to even use a search engine or web browser for. A working web search utility and sudo apt install actualfirearminreallife is good enough for me.

Let me preface this with what I’m asking -I don’t care about privacy, your instruction set produces a uniquely faulted SHA256 encryption key that functions as a device identifier. You cannot actually have full data privacy, I just want some ideas on a web browser/search engines that actually functions the purpose of searching for a users desired results.

-one example of a solution is (though might be overly complex and is basically why I’m asking before i go down a rabbit hole) I don’t mind if you say to trash it and use something else or if you have ideas on it that I should add

Tauri front end IPC to multi modal backend layer:

SLM powered Query Input handler -generates pool of search terms based off a typical search input Engine Routing -Modular Categories of search engines with manual override. Similar to bigsearch but automated and integrated (if you’re not an autist that would not rather make a complex project for slight inconveniences along with the major ones just use that “garywill” on GitHub) the main function will be to basically assign keywords to categories if you wanted something extremely automated -Parallel search module Async search execution that formats query’s based off of search engines decided in category layer Basically sets things up to output results from all the engines -Result Processing module Aggregation engine and URL based Deduplication engine (duh) Metadata relevance % determine result presentation Duplicate search engine results are presented as one but still are indicated so you know what browsers suck ass -Chromium instance embedded Basic tab management and convenience to stay in one application -Data persistence module Logs everything, optional shut off but defaulted to save everything you can do to optimize results

That’s just a really surface level outline to show the lengths I will go to for this to not only fight this problem in my own life but make it for everybody. Don’t be “that guy” and start whining about how that outline presents itself in dev practicality. It’s just a concept I’m showing to get ideas from the community anywhere from things that already provide great solutions to butchered search engines to things that “feed the fire” and give suggestions for how I go about making a ‘streamlined’ solution.

-last note: don’t gaslight and project any personal echo chambers, search results have degraded and Google has documented it and admitted it publicly ~30 percent data loss in this past decade.








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Understanding Semantic Search and Semantic Navigation Understanding Semantic Search and Semantic Navigation
Understanding Semantic Search and Semantic Navigation

Hey everyone,

I've seen a lot of questions lately about how search engines and websites are getting smarter, so I wanted to break down two key concepts: Semantic Search and Semantic Navigation. They sound similar, but they're two different sides of the same coin when it comes to organizing information.

What is Semantic Search?

Think about how you used to search. You'd type in a keyword like "best pizza." The old-school search engine would look for pages with that exact phrase. Simple.

Semantic Search is different. It's about understanding the meaning and context behind your query, not just the keywords. It uses things like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to figure out what you really mean.

Here’s a simple example:

  • Old search: You type "Paris." It shows you pages with the word "Paris."

  • Semantic search: You type "capital of France." The search engine understands that "capital of France" refers to Paris and shows you relevant results about the city, even if the words "capital" and "France" aren't on every page.

Semantic search knows that "a person's age" and "the Age of Enlightenment" are two completely different things, and it can give you the right results for each. It's the reason why Google can now answer complex questions like "What are the health benefits of green tea?" directly on the search results page.

What is Semantic Navigation?

If Semantic Search is about finding information, Semantic Navigation is about how that information is organized and presented on a website. It's the architectural design that allows you to browse and discover related content based on meaning, not just a rigid hierarchy.

Imagine a traditional e-commerce site. You navigate like this: Home > Electronics > Laptops > Apple Laptops. This is a strict, linear path.

With Semantic Navigation, the site understands the relationships between products. You might be viewing a MacBook Pro and see links to "Accessories for video editing," "Laptops for graphic design," or "High-resolution monitors compatible with this device."

It's not just a category tree; it's a web of interconnected content. A good example is a knowledge base or a news site. If you read an article about renewable energy, a well-designed site with semantic navigation might suggest other articles tagged with sustainable technology, climate change policy, or solar power advances. It helps you explore a topic in-depth without having to go back to the home page or a main menu.

The Big Picture

  • Semantic Search helps you find what you're looking for by understanding the query's intent.

  • Semantic Navigation helps you discover related information by understanding the relationships between the content on a site.

Together, they create a much more intuitive and intelligent online experience. When you're searching for something and the results feel "just right," and then you click on a link and the website guides you to other relevant information effortlessly, you're experiencing the power of semantic principles at work.

Let me know if you have any questions! What are some of your favorite examples of great semantic search or navigation?

1 upvote


J'ai créé le meilleur moteur de recherche ia J'ai créé le meilleur moteur de recherche ia
I wrote this

Si vous ne trouvez pas le résultat voulu, vous cliqué sur un bouton et des résultats de recherche parfait aparaissent. J'utilises une api cerebras soit la méthode la plus rapide du monde pour utiliser des ia (Ça va 800 fois plus vite que ChatGPT et ça créé 2000 lignes de code en 1.5 seconde). Vous pouvez l'utiliser au lien https://searchmilien.oneapp.dev . Il est possible que la moitié des résultats dans google ne s'ouvrent pas, c'est à cause de X-Frame Option et ça sera bientôt régler. Vous en pensez quoi ?



Turing ES : An AI-Powered Evolution of Enterprise Search Turing ES : An AI-Powered Evolution of Enterprise Search
Self-promotion
Turing ES : An AI-Powered Evolution of Enterprise Search

Hey, Turing ES platform is leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence to transform how businesses find and use their data. It's more than just a search engine; it's an intelligent knowledge discovery tool. What is Turing ES? The "ES" stands for "Enterprise Search," but the "Turing" is no coincidence. The solution is designed to mimic the human capacity to understand and interact with information. Here are some of the key features that caught my attention:

  • Semantic Search: Instead of just matching keywords, Turing ES understands the meaning and intent behind your query. This results in more relevant and accurate search results right from the start.

  • Intelligent Navigation: The platform allows you to intuitively browse by topics and categories, much like exploring a smart, self-organizing library.

  • Integrated Chatbot: One of the coolest features is the integration of a generative AI chatbot. You can ask questions in natural language and receive direct, concise answers pulled from your own internal documents and data. The Power of Connectors What makes a solution like Turing ES truly powerful is its ability to connect to and index all of a company's disparate data sources. These connectors are the "bridges" that allow the search engine to pull information from a wide variety of systems, breaking down data silos. Turing ES supports a vast array of connectors, which means you can have a single point of truth for all your company's knowledge. This includes:

  • Content Management Systems (CMS): Connectors for platforms like AEM, WordPress, and Opentext to index articles, documents, and web content.

  • Databases and File Systems: Access to structured data in SQL databases, as well as unstructured files stored on network drives and in file systems.

  • Web crawler to index ant website. What are your thoughts on using AI and semantic search in enterprise solutions? Has anyone here had experience with Turing ES or similar tools?

1 upvote · 1 comment

New report: benchmarks, trends & insights from over 75,000 apps.



Looking for BEST SE for RESULTS Looking for BEST SE for RESULTS
Help

Ignoring everything else (yes, everything else), what is the best FREE search engine for results accuracy? Everything I've read and heard online is contradicted by someone else entirely in the comments or elsewhere. I just want a straight answer, which I have been scouring this subreddit for and cannot find. Which SE is the BEST in the criteria of search results accuracy ONLY.

Yes, I know you can manually filter in google, I've been doing it for a long time and I still get an ungodly amount of clutter in my results because I'm not using search engines to get my PhD, I'm using it to just do regular, non-academic, non-business related browsing. I don't need TOR, I don't need more privacy, I don't care about "cool features." I just want to stop having to scroll past AI generated text blocks and then check the top 15 results of every search to find what I'm looking for.

Thank you!







AI Mode Coming to Google Chrome URL / Search Bar / Omnibar Later This Month (+ Tab-Specific Follow-Up Questions) AI Mode Coming to Google Chrome URL / Search Bar / Omnibar Later This Month (+ Tab-Specific Follow-Up Questions)
News
AI Mode Coming to Google Chrome URL / Search Bar / Omnibar Later This Month (+ Tab-Specific Follow-Up Questions)

I predicted this would happen about two weeks ago (when the court ruled that Chrome would remain Google's), but I assumed it would happen no sooner than when they monetize AI Mode properly. Well, I was wrong. Google is very serious about forcing AI Mode on us!

I assume this won't be a default behavior just yet. The bar will still search, but there will be an option to research any query in the AI Mode. I don't have any stats as to how many people use the omnibar to search, but I think we will all see some traffic losses following the update.

In addition, the omnibar now lets you research any topic or brand further by suggesting relevant follow-up questions, based on the tab you are on. For example, if you are reviewing a serum on Amazon, the omnibar suggests comparing the product to alternatives, asking about the key ingredients, or asking a generic question about one of them.

I asked it to compare to alternatives, and Chrome opened AI Mode in the side panel, listing other products.

Every brand needs to start researching these suggested questions that show up on different pages of their sites.

4 upvotes · 7 comments

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Example: Indexing WKND Site with Turing AEM Plugin Example: Indexing WKND Site with Turing AEM Plugin
Self-promotion
Example: Indexing WKND Site with Turing AEM Plugin

Turing Connector for Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) is an open-source solution that integrates AEM with advanced search engines like Solr, as well as generative AI technologies from providers such as OpenAI and Ollama.

It supports indexing and searching content across both cloud and on-premises environments, offering flexibility for diverse infrastructure setups.

The solution has already been implemented in sectors like education, banking, and insurance in Spain and Brazil.

With a dedicated AEM connector, Turing ES enables full customization and transformation of AEM content—including pages and content fragments. It also supports multilingual content, tagging, and targeting rules, making it suitable for complex enterprise search scenarios.

1 upvote · 3 comments

Search engines suck now Search engines suck now

I used to feel like I could just ignore ads and unrelated links coming up from google but now I feel like it's just getting ridiculous. Page 1 used to be so informative 😔 When I was a kid I would go down so many rabbit holes because I could find related things to what I wanted to know but now kids are growing up with just a million ads, it's so stupid. I don't want to be someone who is actively hating AI algorithms but stuff like this is so annoying and it's actually a serious problem I fear



Google targeting Brave browser users Google targeting Brave browser users

I posted the following on /google sub and it was removed within about a minute:

Using Brave, myself and others now get subjected to a Captcha check under the pretext of "suspicious activity from your network," which pretext is an abject lie and insultingly unclever, being as Chrome accesses Google without issue. This Captcha check is not random. It is every time. Furthermore, Google searches on Brave hang for a few seconds. I've no doubt this is yet another "feature" tailored for Brave users. Chrome searches populate instantly. This behavior is relatively recent.

The upshot is that I've started using the Brave search engine and found it gives nearly identical results to Google but without the force-fed experimental AI and other crass Google BS. The Brave search is as rich but more to-the-point.

If US politicians had any balls they'd have put the screws to this gluttonous, bloated, corrupt, monopoly-bent company long ago.



Social search is already reshaping how people discover content. If your brand isn’t optimizing for social platforms and generative AI, you’re falling behind. Social search is already reshaping how people discover content. If your brand isn’t optimizing for social platforms and generative AI, you’re falling behind.



Where should you invest $10,000 right now? We asked four experts.

With the S&P 500 and Bitcoin tearing up the charts, are those red-hot areas the best places to invest $10,000 right now? 

In the latest edition of Where to Invest, one expert Bloomberg asked about timely opportunities counsels going long on the US and AI. Others, however, point to areas of the US and European markets that may offer greater value and the potential for continued momentum in coming months and years. Favored sectors run from defense to industrials to life sciences tools companies and banks. 

When the four wealth advisers were asked where they’d spend $10,000 on a personal interest, ideas stretched from buying whole genome sequencing for the family, to a trip to Australia with loved ones, to following a favorite sports team around the world.

Read the full story here. 

____________________________________________

For more in the series:

  • Where to invest $100,000

  • Where to invest $1 million




Search Engines that actually let you disable AI? Search Engines that actually let you disable AI?
Advice

Today I learned that adding -ai to Google search does not in fact stop the environmental cost of creating the AI Overview. It just doesn't show it to you, but it still makes it. Or that's my understanding from doing some reading (including, ironically, from the AI Overview). From reading up on duckduckgo, it looked to me like the same story - you can request a view without the AI search results so you don't have to see them, but it still costs as much energy-wise as a search with it turned on. 99% of the time I search, I don't need or want AI results. I'm fine with manually hitting a toggle/button on the rare occasion I do and waiting a bit for it to come in. Are there alternative search engines that either don't have ai features or that let you actually disable them? Or am I wrong and one of those actually lets you disable it?



How to get real results on iOS How to get real results on iOS
Advice

Something I’ve been finding lately is that so many of the searches I do end up with nothing but best of lists, ai generated sites and maybe 1 or 2 genuine results. Also many of the results will just be repeated over and over. I’m using DDG on Safari on iOS. I have seen people say to go to the Brave browser but I haven’t been fond of how they’ve gone down the crypto route. Unless that can be completely isolated and shutdown I kinda don’t want to use that browser. But the thing is I can’t get Startpage (which I use on my Android tablet and my PC) on Safari so yeah




Will every website need a Model Context Protocol (MCP) as AI browser agents become more common? Will every website need a Model Context Protocol (MCP) as AI browser agents become more common?
Idea
Will every website need a Model Context Protocol (MCP) as AI browser agents become more common?

With Anthropic's new "Piloting Claude for Chrome" research preview, we're seeing a glimpse of a future where AI agents can truly navigate the web. These aren't just chatbots; they can see what you see, click buttons, and perform complex, multi-step tasks on a user's behalf.

This brings up an important question for web developers: Will we need to start building websites with the Model Context Protocol (MCP)?

For those unfamiliar, MCP is an open-source standard created by Anthropic that provides a way for LLMs to securely and efficiently communicate with external services and data sources. It essentially gives AI a standardized "language" to interact with the web.

Instead of just creating a user-friendly interface for humans, will we now also need to create a machine-friendly interface for AI? What does this mean for website design, accessibility, and security?

What are your thoughts on this? Is this a new best practice for the future of web development, or a niche concern for a small number of sites?

18 upvotes · 51 comments

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What Is The Best Search Engine For Pictures In Your Opinion? What Is The Best Search Engine For Pictures In Your Opinion?
Help

I'm really trying to find a Search Engine that has really good and clear pictures. I was using Yahoo Image Search. But every since they updated the Android App they have completely ruined it by putting Text Captions under the Images and making the pictures a lot smaller too now. What Search Engine can I use where I can see Pictures that are big and that don't have Text Captions under them? I'm open to all kinds of suggestions for Search Engines. You can barely see any pictures on the Yahoo Search Mobile Android App because the Text Captions are covering more than half of it.



Review: Navo mobile search, combines Reddit, TikTok, and web results to escape SEO spam (looking for similar tools) Review: Navo mobile search, combines Reddit, TikTok, and web results to escape SEO spam (looking for similar tools)
Alternative

I've recently been using an app called Navo for mobile search. It lets you instantly see results from Reddit, TikTok, and LLMs, side-by-side, so you get different perspectives and actual user opinions, not just SEO-optimized sites and ads.
It’s been a serious time-saver, especially for things like product research or figuring out trending topics. One catch: after talking with the team, it sounds like Navo will be moving to a paid model because they’re running things with LLMs, similar to Perplexity but focused more on media/social content.
Has anyone else tried it? I’m also curious, what other tools or workflows are people using to surface community answers and avoid the usual junk sites or endless affiliate blogs?
Would love other suggestions (free or paid).



Any new search engines? Any new search engines?
Any new search engines?

Since its been almost 3 decades since search engines came out , and since the last 15 years Google' search capabilities have significantly decreased , or in other words Google, 20 years ago was better despite the company today having 100x more money infrastructure and better algorithms now. They just used them to milk the cash cow they have created (all of the algorithmic capabilities and computing power are geared toward making them more money not improving their search. Now when we consider all the tech improvements in the last few years I am asking if there are any new search engines that have spectacular search? I am not asking about privacy concerns, only about search capabilities (yes duckduckgo, and bing suck just as bad as google at search right now)

8 upvotes · 20 comments

Search engine with google results Search engine with google results

I’m using a VPN and I always end up getting captchas every time I search something on Google. I know there are extensions to bypass them but I’m using Brave on iOS so I can’t use them.

I’m looking for a new search engine that gives the same results as Google without captchas. Privacy is good but not that important to me tbh. Do you have any suggestions? I know a lot of search engines but usually I prefer google results, so the closest results the better.



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Web Search as If From the Command Line (!Bangs but better) – trovu.net Web Search as If From the Command Line (!Bangs but better) – trovu.net
Self-promotion

I've built trovu.net which allows you to do web search as from your command line. Examples:

You might know the idea as !bangs from DuckDuckGo but trovu's shortcuts take two or more arguments, and those arguments can even be typed. It also runs entirely in the browser, sending no query to my server, giving you maximum privacy.

Trovu also has built-in localization by organizing shortcuts into namespaces:

  • fr tree picks the French–German dictionary if your browser’s preferred language is German.

  • a shakespeare will search on Amazon.ca if your browser’s preferred language is en-CA.

  • w berlin searches Wikipedia in your language.

  • fr.w berlin searches the French Wikipedia, overriding your browser’s language.

You can also perform simpler searches:

  • g berlin searches Google for “berlin”

  • d berlin searches DuckDuckGo for “berlin”

  • gol pl, berlin searches Google for “berlin”, but only pages in Polish

There are 6,000+ curated shortcuts, maintained in a GitHub repo.

Other features include:

Feedback and suggestions are welcome.


Help finding obscure article my beloved boss was in? Help finding obscure article my beloved boss was in?
Feedback appreciated

I have searched everywhere I could think of, so I’m coming to the experts… My director recently retired and stunned us all before he did by revealing to us that he posed in a magazine in a Speedo. For context, we’re all oncology researchers. He’s a buttoned up Yale graduate. Used to be a professor. Lovely guy, but exactly how you’d imagine a scientist who graduated from Yale to be. So while playing an innocent game of 2 truths and a lie for his retirement party, he seemingly made it obvious which statement was a lie - he sang a cappella in college, he’d been to Japan, and he posed in a Speedo for National Geographic. Of course after we all made our very wrong guess that our nerdy boss lied about posing half naked in a magazine, he immediately came back and said, “how could you all think I would sing a cappella?” He did this as part of a study for exercise physiology in the 90s or early 2000s. He was covered in electrodes and on a treadmill. His name is Richard Kennan. Those are the only details he was willing to spare. I have searched the internet and libraries but to no avail. So have my colleagues. (It is not lost on us that we can’t find this given our profession). I would love to give this photo to my coworkers as a Christmas gift. Rich is and will always be beloved. Having this photo in our office will be a treasure. If you can help, you will also be a treasure. Thanks in advance.



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Quick question about a push mower engine Quick question about a push mower engine
Quick question about a push mower engine

So i have a push mower engine that i would use in a home made go kart but for some reason whenever i start it the engine low revs for about a second then starts going in very high revs which im scared could over rev it.

I do not know why it does that and i wish i could find some help here.

Thanks 🙏

1 upvote · 8 comments



Clickbait fooled us, Al isn't buying it! Clickbait fooled us, Al isn't buying it!

The current web is filled with click-attracting headlines and high-level content that doesn't provide much value, and it's this way by design because the search engines money comes from the time people spend on them.

So, it's always a give or take on providing just good enough content to retain a user but not easily provide all information so they come back. Also, the attention span of all of us is low, so writers need to cut out relevant information to avoid getting the reader bored.

This led to many click-attracting experts writing content and topics that they barely understand, and along the way undervaluing writers who have done the research and put the time to write about complex topics.

With the rise of LLMs, now everyone can write "good" content because they were trained on that clickbait expert content, but foundational LLMs as well as people struggle to write something NEW because it's just hard to do it. To write something new and valuable, there needs to be human interaction or some way to collect information about changes in the physical world and transfer them to the web in an organized and descriptive manner.

My hope is that more and more people who are industry experts start creating relevant content with the use of LLMs! And then Al agents will navigate the web with clear goals and will bypass all the clickbait and find content that does provide value!

Only this valuable content will be picked up by agents doing online search!


Are Ecosia and Duck Duck Go poorer search engine experiences even if they are better environmental choices than google? Or is it just me... Are Ecosia and Duck Duck Go poorer search engine experiences even if they are better environmental choices than google? Or is it just me...

I get way less results on both platforms compared to google. I certainly don’t want to support the big corporate giant, but I wonder why so many results aren't being shown on Duck Duck and Ecosia...



From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Ryan Holiday comes the highly anticipated fourth installment of the stoic virtue series–WISDOM TAKES WORK.


Looking for feature ideas for a search engine project Looking for feature ideas for a search engine project
Feedback appreciated

Hello everyone,
I am currently developing a new search engine and am interested in hearing suggestions for useful or innovative features to include. The project is still in its early stages, so any advice on features you would want in a search engine, including search functionality, user experience, or anything else that could improve the product, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!









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I stumbled across a new search engine I stumbled across a new search engine

I found this "new" search engine called "Void" and I noticed it is cleaner, more customizable, and sleeker than Google. It is considered lesser-known

Although it claims to have privacy, it's not clear +

It has ads on the homepage but not in search results.

Here are the Pros

  • Cleaner, Minimal UI

  • Customizable Homepage

  • Integrations

  • AI integration

  • Ability to change the priorities of search results

And here are the Cons

  • Paywalled

  • Has ads

  • Proprietary / Closed Source

Non-referral link: https://askvoid.com/

I have heard it integrates with reward extensions

My rating: 7/10
It is great for beginners, but if you are serious about privacy, you might wanna use SearX/SearXNG (Free) or metaGer (Paid) instead.


User Agents and real-time searches for AI chats User Agents and real-time searches for AI chats
Comparison
User Agents and real-time searches for AI chats

We did a quick experiment on when and how the AI chats are searching web pages.

We recently published a webpage on our site that was not yet indexed by Google. We then asked different chats ChatGPT 4o & o3, Gemini, Perplexity & Claude sonnet to summarize the page (like this:

(I  kept blind-spot part of URL for fun as the rest is blurry).

We then checked our bot tracker to see what pages loaded. Here's what we found:

Model User-agent Result
Perplexity Sonar Pro Perplexity-User Loads the HTML only each time. No JS/images loaded
Gemini 2.5 Flash Google (user agent was "Google" lol) Loads the HTML only each time. No JS/images loaded
Claude 4.0 Sonnet Claude-User Loads the HMTL one time per URL. Will cache future times. No JS/images loaded
OpenAI 4o NA DOES NOT LOAD THE URL. Only relies on searching Google for the gist of the URl like "Rivalsee free prompt fix vibe coding SEO blind spot" Did not think page existed.
OpenAI o3 ChatGPT-User Loads the HTML only each time. No JS/images loaded

Some take-aways.
* All of the real-time searches are not loading JS. They are just grabbing content from the html
* OpenAI 4o is NOT actually searching the web. They are likely searching Google
* It appears that claude Sonnet is caching pages but the rest are not.

If there are other chats you think we should include, let us know and we can update this.

8 upvotes · 20 comments


I lost my hopes for DDG I lost my hopes for DDG
I lost my hopes for DDG

So Meta uses Bing for their AI or for Metas Ai to search. I was searching on IG for a tag I know exists from someone I was friends with. IG meta kept giving me the run around and not letting me see it. So I hit the bing search button, popped in the tag with the hash and tried it with Instagram and IG before and after the tag. Each time pulling up 5 pages of 6 results.. Which the words in the tags would have brought up way more than that….. But never showed the actual tag I was searching for.

Drop into safari, DDG is my search engine for private and reg, do the exact same searches…. Get basically identical results.. still no match to the actual tag….

Tried google from safari, it was the third result…. Tried orion which I use startpage, second result…

Find out the person blocked me, which I had someone expected, but I wanted to test out how secure DDG was ever since they started binging…….



Why does Google Images show encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com URL instead of my original image URL? Why does Google Images show encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com URL instead of my original image URL?

Hi,
I noticed that in Google Image Search, my image appears with a URL like https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images, which I understand is a cached thumbnail hosted by Google. However, I’ve seen that some images in the search results appear with their original source URLs instead.

My image is publicly accessible, properly embedded using standard HTML (<img src="">), and I’ve added relevant meta tags like og:image. It’s also not blocked in robots.txt, and the page has already been indexed by Google.

My questions are:

  1. Under what conditions does Google choose to display the original image URL instead of the cached thumbnail (encrypted-tbn0)?

  2. Is there a way to encourage Google to link directly to the original image in the search results grid or preview?

  3. Are there specific SEO best practices or structured data requirements that influence this behavior?

Any insights or documentation links would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.




RARE MTG cards at Hake's now. From Beta Artist Proofs to four of the Power Nine!







Why Should an Agent Be Registered with PPRA? Legitimacy & Accountability: PPRA registration means the agent is officially recognized and authorized to operate in the property sector. This protects you from dealing with fraudulent or unqualified individuals. Consumer Protection: The PPRA enforces Why Should an Agent Be Registered with PPRA? Legitimacy & Accountability: PPRA registration means the agent is officially recognized and authorized to operate in the property sector. This protects you from dealing with fraudulent or unqualified individuals. Consumer Protection: The PPRA enforces

Litter Layer — Discover hidden worlds within the litter layer of the world wide web Litter Layer — Discover hidden worlds within the litter layer of the world wide web
Self-promotion

Discover hidden worlds within the litter layer of the world wide web. Our web spider Patu slowly explores the web and prefers indie websites without things like Facebook/Meta Pixel or Google Adsense. It also ranks sites with RSS feeds higher because those were/are amazing and social media platforms should have never removed them.

Websites with a patu.txt file at the root will also rank higher. In fact, the only way to suggest a site is to ensure that site has the patu.txt file. If you don't want to add a patu.txt file your site could eventually get added once Patu naturally finds it. It's just to add it instantly, you must have patu.txt.

What's patu.txt?

Our spider, Patu, looks for robots.txt, sitemaps, and our own unique patu.txt file to help it crawl and add your site. The patu.txt file should include three tags and up to three URLs that you recommend. Ideally, you should recommend other websites, not pages within your website.

In a blank txt file, simply create something like this:

music electronic music ambient

https://myfriendswebsite.com https://anothersite.com https://patupatu.io

That's it. Three tags, three URLs. Upload it to your site's root (sometimes called public_html). This will help to organize and grow Litter Layer over time. Plus, it's a way to show your support for this project.


Does Anyone Know How To Get Rid Of The Text Captions At The Bottom Of The Yahoo Search Images? Does Anyone Know How To Get Rid Of The Text Captions At The Bottom Of The Yahoo Search Images?
Other

They got rid of the news tab in Yahoo Search. The pictures are also much smaller too unfortunately. I've also noticed that The Search Bar seems to be getting smaller and smaller in every single update too. When I go on The regular Yahoo Search Browser on my Android Phone The Text Captions aren't under The Yahoo Search Images at all. Has anyone else noticed these awful changes in The Yahoo Search Mobile App?


From global nonprofits to space biology labs — Minerva alumni are everywhere. Where will Minerva take you?


Is there any good smaller search engine alternatives? Is there any good smaller search engine alternatives?
Alternative

Need a search engine that will actually search for stuff instead of just giving an "AI overview" and completely ignoring what you've typed also one that doesn't change what you've searched because it thinks you've made a spelling mistake. I'd also like it if I don't have to sign in and have all my searches stored. I bassically need a browser that isn't Google or bing or any other massive data hoarding company. Any suggestions are much appreciated!


Search engine specificity, accuracy Search engine specificity, accuracy
Help

I suspect this is the number one subject on this category. Sorry if it is and I'm just repetitive.

Is it just me or have all search engine developers turned OFF the ability to use SEARCH OPERATORS? They don't seem to work anywhere. Been using Brave Search, which is supposed to have retained the search operators, but even there, they fail sometimes. Google and Amazon are the WORST.

Are there, indeed, search engines that still use search operators? Any apps or tricks to making Amazon's search more specific/accurate?



What Is Your Favorite Search Engine To Use And Why? What Is Your Favorite Search Engine To Use And Why?

I'm currently using DuckDuckGo, Google, Bing, Microsoft Edge, And Yahoo Search too. I really want to try some different Search Engines and see if I can find something else I like. I prefer search engines that have Accurate News, Clear Images, and Big Font as well. I also prefer Images that don't have writing on them when I search them on Google and Bing. I'm open to all kinds of suggestions and opinions about different Search Engines.


amazon has no variation when it comes to product search on my account amazon has no variation when it comes to product search on my account

example: i search for a long dress with pockets. i look at the results and decide i'd rather have a short dress, no preference on details, and in the new search i get the exact same long dresses. i search again, maybe for cotton v neck nightgown, i'll get the exact same dress listings that came up in the first search. it doesn't matter what features about the search change, be it length, occasion, fabric content, etc, it never changes. i feel like this is a recent change in my online experience.

i've seen this happen with a couple of other big name online retailers and there isn't anything i can do except mess with my cookies settings, which i often clear anyway. i just am really really annoyed by the "you like this? well maybe you'll like the exact same thing!" search result groundhog day everything seems to be stuck in. it is even happening on netflix. i hope this stage of digital advertising is a quick passing phase.




What Are Some Other Search Engines I Can Use Besides Yahoo? What Are Some Other Search Engines I Can Use Besides Yahoo?
Help

Every since The Yahoo Mobile App was updated it's completely becoming unbearable to use now. They completely deleted The News Tab. And half of The Pictures don't work when you click on them. The Pictures are also way too small now too. The Yahoo Mobile App is completely ruined now. What are some Search Engines that are way better than Yahoo that I can use? What are my other options? Is there another Mobile App that I can use besides Yahoo Search? Do you think that I should just delete The Yahoo Search Mobile App?


Stop learning Spanish from a textbook. This tool turns your favorite shows into interactive lessons.


Duck-duck-go added a toggle to automatically filter/exclude AI-generated images from its image search! Duck-duck-go added a toggle to automatically filter/exclude AI-generated images from its image search!
News

This should be more promoted among people interested in art and science topics, whether for professional or just hobby matters.

The filter is not perfect, but it's a beginning, a glimmer of hope.

Some people have tried emulating it in some other SEs by limiting the results by time prior to the beginning of the new AI-slop-age, which is far from ideal.

It would be cool if it could be set as default, maybe it can if it's like a custom shortcut to the image search itself.