Items tagged with search-engine
In recent years and months, Google has been working to improve user privacy across all its brands. Whether this is genuine is a debate for another day, but other companies are now trying to compete, as a “focus on privacy” has become a big selling point. Subsequently, Brave Search, a search engine “built on top of a completely independent index, and doesn’t track users, their searches, or their clicks,” has become available from the company behind Brave Browser. Back in March, the San Francisco-based company announced the acquisition of Tailcat, an open search engine “developed by the team formerly responsible for the privacy search and browser products at...
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If you are doing a search in the outback, it may become significantly more difficult soon if Google keeps its threats. Recently, the Mountain View-based search engine company has been butting heads with the Australian government, which introduced rules that could force content aggregators, like Google, to pay for compiled news articles. At a recent Australian Senate committee hearing, Google stated that if the proposed code becomes law, it will shut off search in Australia. Crikey! Earlier today, the search giant’s local managing director and VP of Australia and New Zealand, Melanie Silva, delivered the shut-off threat to the senate committee. She went on to explain that “It’s...
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As time goes on, people are becoming more aware of their privacy and data security regarding the products they use. We saw this with the outpouring of concern over WhatsApp’s privacy policies, causing confusion. People do not typically think about their search engine, though, but that is changing as well. DuckDuckGo is a search engine that touts privacy and security for its users, and the company’s search query numbers show that people are taking notice. DuckDuckGo (DDG) was founded in 2008 with the principle that companies should not make money from private information being sold without consent. DuckDuckGo operates by not collecting information while making money from ads sold in...
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Google has announced a significant change in how it handles digital publications that show stories and news items on Google Search results and on Google News. Google had a policy in place in the past called First Click Free that required websites listed in Google News or in Google's search results to offer a minimum of three free articles per day to readers. After those three free stories daily were consumed by the reader, they could be shown a paywall to try and convert the reader to a subscriber. Online news fans aren't known to be the sort who pay for news that is perceived as being a free service. Google is changing its stance, which could mean that news from some publications via Google...
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It’s undeniable that in the nearly 15 years since Google became a Real Thing and unleashed search engine greatness on the world, search has evolved. Google has done a solid job of “understanding” search queries these days, to the point where we no longer have to fuss with things like correct spelling or Boolean variables. Further, voice search has improved dramatically in recent years; it no longer seems incredible that you can ask your phone a question and hear it spit out an answer in a small robotic voice imbued with hints of human inflection. And of course, the amount of data that Google has gleaned over the years helps predict what we’re looking for. However, search...
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