[Drkirby]

Hows it a conspiracy theory? Its telling you what happens. But google is 'bubbling' you with results you will be most interested in, which in turn 'bubbles' you from opinions or things that you might not click.

This is only negative if you are searching for news or doing research, but great for normal uses. I like how Google knows I am into video games and gives me results relating to my interests rather then other similar sounding things.

[tokkun]

Personalized search is an option in your Google account that can be disabled at any time. Your search history can also be cleared at any time. Or you could just log out of your Google account.

[PetriP-TNT]

DuckDuckGo is the best search engine on the internert, bar none.

Expect for the fact that it cant search for shit which makes it kinda pointless.

[numble]

I don't like the bubbling, and I guess its more aggressive now, because I am commonly running into this problem:

I often do research in Chinese, or just search for Chinese news on random topics (like when the new rail/subway lines will be done). This means I input searches in Chinese.

Every other day or two, my search results start to all return in Chinese, even if I am not searching in Chinese. Maybe I've been searching a lot in Chinese recently, I don't know what the rhyme or reason is. I want some help with CSS or Javascript, or I want to know more about some movie or current event. My search results are in Chinese, even though I searched in English. It's really annoying. I have to manually go and tell Google to not return any Chinese results. And then I need to flick it back on later.

And then sometimes I am searching in simplified Chinese, wanting Mainland Chinese sources and it gives me Traditional Chinese results, from Hong Kong and Taiwan sources, I guess because I have searched for restaurants and addresses in Hong Kong recently or something.

[esquire]

Just Bing It baby!

[Cipherr]

Personalized search is an option in your Google account that can be disabled at any time. Your search history can also be cleared at any time. Or you could just log out of your Google account.

I came to say this. I don't even understand why this is an issue. I like the personalization, helps me get to what I want faster. But if one day, I woke up, rolled out of bed and sustained an traumatic brain injury, and was suddenly offended by said search results; I would probably just log out or turn it off....

[scorcho]

DuckDuckGo is the best search engine on the internert, bar none. I can't imagine using google over it nowadays. Google Search is morphing into the bloated mess Yahoo search became when Google was first rising.

where's the bloat in google search results?

[numble]

Personalized search is an option in your Google account that can be disabled at any time. Your search history can also be cleared at any time. Or you could just log out of your Google account.

How do I disable personalized search?

I have had web history disabled since back when the new terms of service were being offered.

I can't really log out due to work using several Google services, I guess I can use private windows, but I want my web history logged locally--I often search through my local web history to find articles I've read in the past. Maybe I need to be constantly clearing cookies? But would that log me out of all the other Google services?

[AndyMoogle]

http://www.cxacademy.org/duckduckgo-...xperience.html Also, created by duckduckgo but not in any way false information: http://dontbubble.us/ I think you're underestimating the damage that search bubbles have on confirmation bias. People will be satisfied with their results, because contrarian opinions are being filtered out. Personally, duckduckgo is the only search engine I use, because chances are I'm looking for a wikipedia article or amazon listing anyway. They still have a ways to go with their web crawler.

Why don't you just google "Batman wikipedia" or something like that if it's a wikipedia page you want? Or you could do an even better search for what you want. If you want to know more about the Batman comics on wikipedia, you could just do a search for "batman comics wikipedia", and you'll get what you want. Is it really that hard?

Or you could use wikipedia or amazon right away in the first place.

I've tried duckduckgo a few times, and it has been much worse than google every time.

[numble]

Let me just really simply state my case: - I have never, ever, ever heard a non-technical user complain about the quality of results they get from Google. I don't know if that means they are satisfied with the results, or they are unsatisfied but don't know how to express it. I do frequently hear non-technical users complain about the quality of results they get from academic search engines, in-site custom searches, and other search cases. I genuinely believe that most people, no matter how dumb their search query is, will get the results they want on Google. - I have seen non-technical users needlessly go through many pages of search results when a more precise term could have gotten them what they wanted. I do not expect this is cause by bubbling. I do not view a material difference between someone searching "Egypt" and having to go to page 3 for tourism info because the first three pages are all informational or news, versus someone searching "Egypt" and having to go to page 3 for tourism info because an algorithm determines that they were previously most interested in information or news. DuckDuckGo's lack of tuning will disadvantage users more than Google's tuning for any long-term user; by definition if I have no pattern in my clicks, Google's tuning will generate no pattern. If I have a pattern in my clicks, more often than not that pattern is useful to me. It's true that there are cases where my pattern will be non-useful to me, but those cases will be by definition fewer than the cases where it is useful. - Any user who develops the kind of awareness needed to use DuckDuckGo (which would require adding it as a search engine to their browser, mentally disabusing themselves of connecting "Google" as a verb to searching, etc--basically jostling their whole routine) is more easily able to develop the kind of awareness to get better at searching. I do not think most users will do either, but I think anyone likely to do the first will be able to do the second.

I think some people may just dislike being tracked and tuned. Whether out of a notion of privacy, or if it actually causes problematic search results, like for me. I do think it is a material problem if things are on page 3 (or 5 or 10) instead of page 1 due to bubbling. I think in my case, when Google has figured me for a "Chinese" user, the English results I want are so many pages away that its easier for me to fuss around in settings and turn off Chinese results to get better results, than to click through many pages.

My basic points prior were that many people are generally bad at Google searches (so your first post about how people can search better and avoid the bubble trap doesn't address that issue, and for me, more intricate search queries doesn't avoid the bubble either--I need to manually go and fuss around in settings every couple of days to get Google to show me search results I want) and that that point was not talking about Google tuning into random people on public computers.

[scorcho]

How do I disable personalized search? I have had web history disabled since back when the new terms of service were being offered. I can't really log out due to work using several Google services, I guess I can use private windows, but I want my web history logged locally--I often search through my local web history to find articles I've read in the past. Maybe I need to be constantly clearing cookies? But would that log me out of all the other Google services?

https://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en

turn off Use Personal Results.

[numble]

https://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en turn off Use Personal Results.

I don't have that option. Maybe it's US only?



Web History is off.

[Treefingers]

Personalized search is an option in your Google account that can be disabled at any time. Your search history can also be cleared at any time. Or you could just log out of your Google account.

Just to clarify, you can't just log out of your Google account - if you aren't signed in Google uses a cookie for personalized results. You need to opt out from here if you want to disable that.

@numble that's strange, here in Canada I get the option.
Edit: nvm, it's only for Google.com

[numble]

Just to clarify, you can't just log out of your Google account - if you aren't signed in Google uses a cookie for personalized results. You need to opt out from here if you want to disable that. @numble that's strange, here in Canada I get the option. Edit: nvm, it's only for Google.com

That was on Google.com. But they can tell I am not in the US.

[|ync]

If you want to see the "Do not use personal results" option, you have to be logged in.

[Fuu]

If you want to see the "Do not use personal results" option, you have to be logged in.

Yeah, when logged in you also get this button next to safesearch and settings:



It toggles between showing and hiding personal results.

[Zeppu]

That was on Google.com. But they can tell I am not in the US.

I think that option has more to do with G+ results. Did you by any chance not enable your Google+ account?

[numble]

If you want to see the "Do not use personal results" option, you have to be logged in.

I think that option has more to do with G+ results. Did you by any chance not enable your Google+ account?

I'm logged in, but I haven't enabled Google+.

[Treefingers]

I'm logged in, but I haven't enabled Google+.

I haven't either and I see it. Very strange

[|ync]

This page seems to describe the ins and outs of personalized search fairly well, along with what you need to do to turn it off: http://support.google.com/accounts/b...n&answer=54041

It mentions that personal results are not currently available in all languages, so maybe that's the reason you don't see the option?

[numble]

This page seems to describe the ins and outs of personalized search fairly well, along with what you need to do to turn it off: http://support.google.com/accounts/b...n&answer=54041 It mentions that personal results are not currently available in all languages, so maybe that's the reason you don't see the option?

I do most of my searches in English, on Google.com, so I don't think its a language thing.

If they are not personalizing my results in some Google+ social fashion, they are still certainly filtering/bubbling my results in some way based on patterns and/or profiles. The stuff I said previously is not just me making the stuff up.

Another example is how I will often search for song lyrics for something I happen to be listening to, or yes, sing to. I will search in Simplified Chinese, which I can read much faster. The results will often be in Traditional Chinese, because of my IP address being from Hong Kong or my latest searches fitting a Hong Kong profile (I'm not sure). In this case, rather than going to the settings and fussing around with language settings (which take 4-5 clicks, and I'd have to repeat the steps if I want to re-enable seeing things in Traditional Chinese), I go to Baidu and do the search and get the results I want.

I want Google to give me English results when I search in English, Simplified Chinese when I search in Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese when I search in Traditional Chinese. But Google wants to guess what I want, giving me results that I don't want. The most egregious: Chinese results when I search in English, Traditional Chinese when I search in Simplified.

Yes, I know how to fuss in settings to change things, but it gets pretty annoying.

[Lyphen]

Why don't you just google "Batman wikipedia" or something like that if it's a wikipedia page you want? Or you could do an even better search for what you want. If you want to know more about the Batman comics on wikipedia, you could just do a search for "batman comics wikipedia", and you'll get what you want. Is it really that hard? Or you could use wikipedia or amazon right away in the first place. I've tried duckduckgo a few times, and it has been much worse than google every time.

Because simply typing Batman in duckduckgo gets me this, which I find easier:

[Angry Fork]

I'm going to start using it because the duck is cute and I like an underdog. I don't have problems searching google though and don't understand people who do.

I don't think it'll catch on though because of the name alone. People are so used to saying 'just google' it, it's fast easy and you know what they're talking about. Saying 'i'm going to duck duck go it' will not work at all. It would only work if you said 'i'm going to duck it' which sounds like sexual innuendo.

[VALIS]

Personalized search is an option in your Google account that can be disabled at any time. Your search history can also be cleared at any time. Or you could just log out of your Google account.

Or I can not use Google. It's weird how resistant some people seem to this idea.

Personally, about 6 months ago I switched to DuckDuckGo for standard searches and Bing for maps, images and videos and it has been a superior experience compared to what I was getting on Google. (although DDG's maps via OpenMap and MapQuest are pretty great)

[BHZ Mayor]

I'm going to start using it because the duck is cute and I like an underdog. I don't have problems searching google though and don't understand people who do. I don't think it'll catch on though because of the name alone. People are so used to saying 'just google' it, it's fast easy and you know what they're talking about. Saying 'i'm going to duck duck go it' will not work at all. It would only work if you said 'i'm going to duck it' which sounds like sexual innuendo.

lmddgtfy.com
Does that work?

[numble]

First page of Google News search on Google.com, logged in, for "Windows Phone" (I wanted to see if I could find brotkasten's article about Windows Phone surpassing iPhone in China and Russia):

[Dariee]

Maybe one of you here knows:

Do you advice in favor of or against using extensions in Google Chrome such as (Facebook) Disconnect, Do Not Track Plus, HTTPS Everywhere etc.?

Cause at one hand, you have to give 'them' permission to see your stuff, while on the other hand, DuckDuckGo itself recommends these. Are they 'to trust'? Or rather said, less suspicious than Google or Facebook themselves?

[Persona7]

I like duckduckgo because it filters results through Web of Trust.

[blame space]

DuckDuckGo would be awesome if it's search results wouldn't be utterly awful

haha

[Narcosis]

I've tried duckduckgo, it seems like a good concept but it really needs work. The search results tend to suck really bad when compared to Google.

[Stumpokapow]

Maybe one of you here knows: Do you advice in favor of or against using extensions in Google Chrome such as (Facebook) Disconnect, Do Not Track Plus, HTTPS Everywhere etc.? Cause at one hand, you have to give 'them' permission to see your stuff, while on the other hand, DuckDuckGo itself recommends these. Are they 'to trust'? Or rather said, less suspicious than Google or Facebook themselves?

HTTPS Everywhere is open source and you can package it into an extension yourself if you don't believe "they" (in this case, the EFF, an organization devoted to protecting digital rights and privacy) are being honest with you.

[Messofanego]

Wow, that shit is cool! Not even Google can do that.

[shidoshi]

Wait... I'm supposed to NOT like search results that may be tailored to me and my tastes?

[SamVimes]

Because that's an insane and paranoid way to look at it. They're not trying to bubble you from information that you might not like, they're trying to help you find what you're looking for quicker and easier. Bob and Joe both like Batman, but Bob likes video games while Joe likes movies. They both search for Batman on Google. Bob gets links about Arkham City, while Joe gets links about The Dark Knight. A rational person would look at this and say, "Oh, so they were able to find what suited their interests much easier. That's good." A crazy person would look at this and say, "Google's just trying to keep you from opening your mind to new forms of entertainment, man!"

Or you could just reasonably look at this and say "Google does this because they think it's convenient, i just find it reinforces confirmation bias".
Reality isn't binary. I know, crazy stuff.

[tfur]

Wait... I'm supposed to NOT like search results that may be tailored to me and my tastes?

Well, spinning a "bubble" idea is a good way of covering up the lack of sophisticated search algorithms.

I guess when I search for restaurants, me wanting results near me is confirmation bias.

Seems like this is hosted off of Amazon?

[Kwhit10]

I like having my search results cater to me since it's more convenient most of the time.

The times I need google to not cater to my preferences I just go into an incognito window.

[Enco]

I loved the top info bar in Duckduckgo but I just got the new Google knowledge update and it's pretty amazing. Much nicer.

[synt4x]

I never use DuckDuckGo myself, but I like that they have a Tor hidden service for the site.

Edit: here's the address: http://3g2upl4pq6kufc4m.onion

[Copernicus]

Because it always needs to be posted when this topic comes up - TED Talk - Elie Pariser - Beware Online Bubble Filters

[To Far Away Times]

I'll give it a shot.

[tokkun]

Or I can not use Google. It's weird how resistant some people seem to this idea.

I'm not resistant to that idea, but if I'm going to switch services, it will be for a legitimate reason, like "I get better results" or "search is noticeably faster", not for something that can be easily turned off in the preferences.

[numble]

I'm not resistant to that idea, but if I'm going to switch services, it will be for a legitimate reason, like "I get better results" or "search is noticeably faster", not for something that can be easily turned off in the preferences.

I think "personalized search" is just Google+ stuff. There certainly is some type of bubbling/filtering going on for me, and I have web history off, personalized search not turned on.

[PetriP-TNT]

Because simply typing Batman in duckduckgo gets me this, which I find easier:

I got this today:

[Dead Man]

Missed this thread til now, always willing to try a new search. I'll try for a few days and see how it goes.

[tino]

This is useful if you think your search engine is impartial and you use search engine to research news/product/potential purchase.


I only use forums for product research and news exploration.

[tino]

I don't like the bubbling, and I guess its more aggressive now, because I am commonly running into this problem: I often do research in Chinese, or just search for Chinese news on random topics (like when the new rail/subway lines will be done). This means I input searches in Chinese. Every other day or two, my search results start to all return in Chinese, even if I am not searching in Chinese. Maybe I've been searching a lot in Chinese recently, I don't know what the rhyme or reason is. I want some help with CSS or Javascript, or I want to know more about some movie or current event. My search results are in Chinese, even though I searched in English. It's really annoying. I have to manually go and tell Google to not return any Chinese results. And then I need to flick it back on later. And then sometimes I am searching in simplified Chinese, wanting Mainland Chinese sources and it gives me Traditional Chinese results, from Hong Kong and Taiwan sources, I guess because I have searched for restaurants and addresses in Hong Kong recently or something.

You can create two separate instant of Chrome browser (you can do it with Firefox too)

Here is what you do, create another shortcut of chrome, right click on property, in the target you put in:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe --user-data-dir="C:\Users\user\Documents\Chrome_Tino_Profile"

the dir="" part is where you put in the new folder address of the 2nd profile.

Now when you click on this icon, you launch a 2nd instant of Chrome and it has its own set of cookies, theme and everything. Be sure to use a different theme so you can tell which browser is which.

The good thing is you can have 2 different Chrome running at the same time. And they have their own cookies, preference and history.

The problem with google is that it never fix some of the regional preference settings. If my browser has certain foreign setting. It will set the "google product" search location incorrectly even though I tell google I am in the US. All I get from google product search are taobao links in RMB price. There is no way to resolve it except with a 2nd Chrome instant.

[tokkun]

I think "personalized search" is just Google+ stuff. There certainly is some type of bubbling/filtering going on for me, and I have web history off, personalized search not turned on.

Turning off personalized search disables both search history and social network-based personalization.

http://support.google.com/accounts/b...n&answer=54041

[SouthernDragon]

Numble, are you searching from China?

I'm currently in Colombia, and it occasionally prompts me with Spanish-language results. I just say no and continue with English.

[numble]

Turning off personalized search disables both search history and social network-based personalization. http://support.google.com/accounts/b...n&answer=54041

I don't have personalized search on. Tino seems to have the same issues as me.

[dojokun]

Let me just really simply state my case: - I have never, ever, ever heard a non-technical user complain about the quality of results they get from Google. I don't know if that means they are satisfied with the results, or they are unsatisfied but don't know how to express it. I do frequently hear non-technical users complain about the quality of results they get from academic search engines, in-site custom searches, and other search cases. I genuinely believe that most people, no matter how dumb their search query is, will get the results they want on Google. - I have seen non-technical users needlessly go through many pages of search results when a more precise term could have gotten them what they wanted. I do not expect this is cause by bubbling. I do not view a material difference between someone searching "Egypt" and having to go to page 3 for tourism info because the first three pages are all informational or news, versus someone searching "Egypt" and having to go to page 3 for tourism info because an algorithm determines that they were previously most interested in information or news. DuckDuckGo's lack of tuning will disadvantage users more than Google's tuning for any long-term user; by definition if I have no pattern in my clicks, Google's tuning will generate no pattern. If I have a pattern in my clicks, more often than not that pattern is useful to me. It's true that there are cases where my pattern will be non-useful to me, but those cases will be by definition fewer than the cases where it is useful. - Any user who develops the kind of awareness needed to use DuckDuckGo (which would require adding it as a search engine to their browser, mentally disabusing themselves of connecting "Google" as a verb to searching, etc--basically jostling their whole routine) is more easily able to develop the kind of awareness to get better at searching. I do not think most users will do either, but I think anyone likely to do the first will be able to do the second.

Non-techincal users don't know that there's anything to complain about. For all they know, what Google gives you is all there is.