Google Search’s “udm=14” trick lets you kill AI search for good (arstechnica.com)
from psychothumbs@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2024 20:41
https://lemmy.world/post/21528873

#technology

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db2@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2024 20:49 next collapse

Anyone know how to add it to mobile Chrome?

Edit: go to the udm14 site, then open settings/search engine, it’ll be in there. I’m not sure if you have to do a search through the site first for it to show up.

kokesh@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2024 21:11 collapse

There is an addon for Firefox mobile

cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de on 01 Nov 2024 21:16 next collapse

To add it to Firefox search, open about:config and add a boolean value browser.urlbar.update2.engineAliasRefresh set to true. This will allow you to manually add search engines. Then open the search settings and click add. Set the URL to https://www.google.com/search?udm=14&q=%s, give it a name and click “Add Engine”.

<img alt="" src="https://discuss.tchncs.de/pictrs/image/cd1e7da8-3fbd-4181-a73d-fbafbbf34dc2.png">

TK420@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2024 21:28 next collapse

I still like the idea of not using google search as my defacto standard, however once a month I may do an actual google search and this is a nice backup.

Thank you for your work

Alatarius@lemmynsfw.com on 01 Nov 2024 21:33 next collapse

Tried this and it returns as site not found

stefounet123@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 09:29 collapse

Thank you! I’ve been looking for a way to to do that (for a different use case). Works like a charm!

TheTechnician27@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2024 21:18 next collapse

Using a search engine that isn’t saturated with ads and AI trash also solves this problem.

winterayars@sh.itjust.works on 01 Nov 2024 21:40 next collapse

Got any recommendations?

kia@lemmy.ca on 01 Nov 2024 21:45 next collapse

DuckDuckGo

zingo@sh.itjust.works on 01 Nov 2024 23:27 collapse

I don’t know if Bing’s search results are better than Google’s.

They all suck.

pyre@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2024 17:54 next collapse

for me it’s much better. I don’t think they directly use Bing search by the way, just their index. the algorithm should be theirs if I’m not wrong.

linearchaos@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2024 21:53 collapse

Using duck duck go is pretty good for me, if I go to bing.com, My results are horrible. Of course it’s the same result set, but I expect I’m getting less algorithmic shuffling on DuckDuckGo.

BearOfaTime@lemm.ee on 01 Nov 2024 21:52 next collapse

Searx.space

Ellvix@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2024 21:57 next collapse

Startpage if you like Google, DuckDuckGo if you like Bing.

Rogue@feddit.uk on 01 Nov 2024 22:06 next collapse

Kagi

majestictechie@lemmy.fosshost.com on 01 Nov 2024 22:35 next collapse

Gotta say, Kagi has been great. It’s helped me a lot in work just by Being able to prioritise search Results and rank certain sites higher

tal@lemmy.today on 01 Nov 2024 22:39 next collapse

Kagi has an AI search option which IIRC is on by default – or at least was at one point – where it’ll try to also synthesize an answer and stick it in a box with the results, but you can just turn it off in your preferences. I have it off.

There may be a day when we have AI assistants that are so good that their summaries are better than looking at the original source, but I’d put a high bar on that, and think that we’ve got a way to go.

oktoberpaard@feddit.nl on 02 Nov 2024 06:18 collapse

It’s off by default, but activated when you end your search query with a question mark. That option can be turned off.

shadowfax13@lemmy.ml on 02 Nov 2024 14:22 collapse

so much this. its summary option also lets me avoid any ad infested page. also great for searching videos and relevant stack overflow results.

Marthirial@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 14:35 collapse

I started paying for Kagi. Works like Google in 2019. Fast, useful and customizable. One of the best features is hiding results from shit sites like Reddit, which blocks me for using a VPN. $10 well spent just to have that option.

joonazan@discuss.tchncs.de on 02 Nov 2024 16:17 next collapse

It is the best on the market but unfortunately they just use Google underneath plus their own blog index. And at least to me it seems it isn’t going in a better direction.

Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 02 Nov 2024 19:43 next collapse

One of the best features is hiding results from shit sites

I do that with the Firefox plugin “Block or Highlight Search Engine Results” from pistom (on github).
Upside: I can see what was hidden in case I need that and it really helps with visibility.

boatswain@infosec.pub on 03 Nov 2024 16:52 next collapse

I’ve found the $5 a month tier to be just about right. There have been a few months I’ve gone over, but they make that super easy to deal with: they just change the subscription renewal date and you start your next month a few days early.

WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works on 03 Nov 2024 17:21 collapse

why would you block reddit results? it’s often useful (at least when related to tech, possibly other topics too). I would recommend to install libredirect instead, which redirects reddit to a libreddit/redlib frontend

TORFdot0@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2024 17:34 collapse

I believe what he is saying is that he can’t load Reddit results because Reddit blocks his VPN, so blocking Reddit from search results is useful to him

[deleted] on 04 Nov 2024 01:58 next collapse

.

WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works on 04 Nov 2024 01:58 collapse

oh, you’re right. still, my advice should be able to solve that

zingo@sh.itjust.works on 01 Nov 2024 23:25 next collapse

I stopped using Whoogle (Privacy engine using Google search) because of the bad search results. Google’s fault of course.

Trying SearxNG now.

fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com on 02 Nov 2024 04:28 next collapse

SXNG has been great for me. Submitted a PR to add more quick-answers, too.

Mwa@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2024 08:05 collapse

Same with startpage because google indexing becoming horrible.
But I have some cons. with searxng, earch quality becomes horrible when adding too much sources, and I decided to go with ddg.

cmhe@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 00:00 collapse

Which other trustworthy search engines are there? And I don’t mean some different frontend or a meta search engine like ddg, sp, kagi, searx(ng), etc… that mostly just use googles, bings or even yandex and beidu results?

Ages ago I configured and hosted yacy for myself, but that was a different time… Are there any real alternatives? With mayor internet companies like cloudflare, social media sites and many others restricting the access to the net and information, searching becomes more and more impossible if you aren’t a huge corporation…

TheTechnician27@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 00:12 next collapse

The two criteria I suggested were “not saturated with ads and AI trash” (technically just the latter would satisfy OP’s problem), and DDG meets both of those with no problem. Its AI “assistant” and its ads can both be trivially disabled. I use DuckDuckGo because I love its frontend and because it gives me fewer problems than Google did. I’ve only ever used alternative search engines that piggyback off the major ones (as you listed: DDG, Startpage, and SearX), so someone else would have to answer that for you.

cmhe@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 06:04 collapse

Well, you and I just have a different understanding of “search engine” then. For me a search engine is something that doesn’t forward queries to third parties.

Draghetta@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 05:20 next collapse

FYI kagi does its own indexing, it’s not just a frontend

linearchaos@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2024 21:57 collapse

Searx is fancy about it though, It queries everybody and gives you the results that came back from multiple places. This effectively eliminates ads, AI, and unless they all missed it, spam.

cmhe@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2024 22:26 collapse

I have nothing against any meta search engine, they are very useful, and I use them primarily as well.

However, they are not a true alternative, because they depend on third-party services. The same as Invidious is a very useful, but also not an alternative to YouTube itself, just a different user interface.

regrub@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 2024 21:27 next collapse

Lets you turn it off for good…until Google removes that feature

lnxtx@feddit.nl on 01 Nov 2024 22:20 collapse

Imagine Google killing the searching feature.

Duckytoast@sh.itjust.works on 01 Nov 2024 23:09 next collapse

Yeah imagine.

bokherif@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 04:43 collapse

You talk as if it is yet to happen.

TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org on 01 Nov 2024 21:37 next collapse

As in, forever for good, or the "Microsoft" "for good" user settings paradigm?

SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 01 Nov 2024 21:44 next collapse

Good old six month old articles getting reposted, yup, yup, yup.

Cyber@feddit.uk on 01 Nov 2024 22:00 next collapse

Am I the only one questioning the spelling of “tyre“?

notsure@fedia.io on 01 Nov 2024 22:03 next collapse

not everyone speaks ameican english

Virkkunen@fedia.io on 01 Nov 2024 22:11 next collapse

And it's probably India which has the most English speakers in the world (counting it as native, second or third language)

palordrolap@fedia.io on 01 Nov 2024 23:33 collapse

Is it just me or is this response the wrong response? I would have expected:

not everyone speaks bri'ish english

(that missing "r" in "ameican" inspires the use of the "improper" option here). It's American English that uses "tire", after all, and the rest of the Anglosphere that has "tyre".

Zeoic@lemmy.world on 03 Nov 2024 19:55 collapse

Canadian English is also tire. We have a good mix of both sides

Ioughttamow@fedia.io on 01 Nov 2024 23:05 next collapse

Deus Vult!

gofsckyourself@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 03:10 collapse

Today you learned a new aspect of the British English dialect. Congrats!

T156@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 04:59 collapse

They’ll be boggled by hiccough and gaol.

rockter@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 2024 00:50 next collapse

It would be great if it did anything for SEO, but alas.

Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 02:48 next collapse

Lots of talk about which search engine to use; surprisingly little talk about extensions.

Block or Highlight Search Engine Results is my personal recommendation. Whichever SE you use, when you see a result that’s AI slop or a garbage website like Forbes, just add bullshit.com to the filter, set to hide, and you’ll never see that trash in a search result ever again.

Be diligent about it for a good week or so, and your search result quality will absolutely explode, whether your using Google, DDG, or several others.

TotalCasual@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 10:20 collapse

Google search engine is much worse than it used to be and seems to be getting worse.

udm=14 doesn’t seem to improve Google search results by a significant margin.

Bing and DuckDuckGo seem to perform better than Google at present.

Google itself is failing. I’m not going to speculate why.

uBlacklist is my current extension for removing spam results.

Botzo@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 13:50 next collapse

techspot.com/…/102765-who-prabhakar-raghavan-why-…

moseschrute@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 15:46 collapse

Lol they put the guy who ran Yahoo into the ground in charge of Google search.

Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee on 02 Nov 2024 16:51 next collapse

The guy? You mean Marissa Mayer?

moseschrute@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 16:54 collapse

Prabhakar Raghavan

Botzo@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 2024 18:19 collapse

They sure did!

Blackmist@feddit.uk on 02 Nov 2024 16:26 collapse

There’s been a two pronged assault on it over the years.

Mostly from websites doing anything to spam up the results via SEO and mass produced articles about product recommendations, that are little more than the top 10 selling items of that type on Amazon along with affiliate links.

But also from within as Google morphed from a search company to an advertising company. Especially once they reached peak saturation and that all important growth must continue. I just don’t think the capitalism machine works for these tech corporations once they reach the size of Google. How do you even grow from there? Enshittification and eating yourself is the only possible outcome.