Are there any functional search engines left?

[HamburgerBoy]

I get several different forum posts from badcaps.net, avsforum, cnet, fixya, a couple of youtube videos, and this thread on the first page.

This. Fail op.

 

[phucheneh]

This. Fail op.

Which is why I said 'random example' and not 'something I searched for.'

'Cause I didn't want NONE OF YOUR DAMNED LIP, SON.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Which is why I said 'random example' and not 'something I searched for.'

'Cause I didn't want NONE OF YOUR DAMNED LIP, SON.

If this problem is so common for you, give an example that goes beyond the anguish of having to add the occasional quotation marks (something I've been doing on Google for several years regardless). I mean, how do you know that other search engines work better if none of them give you the results you want? How do we know that you aren't an ape that writes full sentences into your search engine of choice? How do you know what you're searching for exists at all online?

 

[DesiPower]

http://www.altavista.com

wow, shit's still alive!

 

[shortylickens]

wow, shit's still alive!

Own and run by Yahoo. So really its Yahoo search.

 

[natto fire]

Yes, I do. Like others have said: At minimum, quotes have become a necessity.

The beauty of Google was that it helped END the days of 'LOL you didn't but plus signs or AND between everything, of course your search sucks.' That was also when websites had to be manually added to search engines. Dark times.

Like I said, the more specific you get, the more Google seems to say 'WHAT, YOU DON'T WANT A FREE IPAD? NO RESULTS FOR YOU!'

I wasn't trying to be condescending, just curious. You can glorify Google all you want, but the fact of the matter is that they probably waste your monthly house payment returning bogus search results every few minutes or so.

Not to go to another road analogy, but I think they are a decent representation of the internet in America. Misused, poorly understood and oft wasted, I grate through over 20K miles a year paying full attention and observing thousands of drivers not doing the same thing. Not to be sexist but women are easily the worst offenders of not taking driving seriously.

That is a whole 'nother can of worms, and my observations are probably moot compared to the ATOT expert on driving who has never been behind a pedal in his/her life.

Searching, I have never had a problem save for the few terms I knew were going to return bad results. The key is understanding that shit is not free.

 

[Crono]

This search term removed because we think you are a moron

I know how to use Boolean operators and quotation marks and what terms are more likely to return the results I want (I'm a level 3 master of the Google-Fu ), but you would think that with all their new features and developments like knowledge graph and smarter, context aware searching in Google Now, that they would also be better at simple search.

 

[phucheneh]

Wow.

So I just noticed they ruined Google Maps now, too. All the labels are in some terrible-ass block font with outlines. They obscure everything they're supposed to be labeling.

edit: I think it's the scale, too. The labels are some mix of bigger and more plentiful at a given zoom. Jesus, this is terribad. They sure know how to make a mix of seemingly minor changes that destroys all functionality.

 

[lxskllr]

I like OpenStreetMap.org. It's not as good as Google, but it's 100% free to use for any purpose, and anyone can add data to it. When I get a bit of time I want to borrow my mother's gps, or get one of my own, and map all the local redlight cameras. It's a valuable public service, and I don't think Google does that.