232
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by ColdWater@lemmy.ca to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

actually awesome and fast search engine (depending on which instance you use) with no trashy AI and ADs results also great for privacy, if you don't know which instance to use go to https://searx.space/ and choose an instance closest to you

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Steve@communick.news 56 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

For all their talk of doing things different with their own index and rankings. Mojeek is following exactly what Google did. It's still an ad based business model that makes users into products to be sold to advertisers. They're good now, while still trying to build market share. But once their investors get hungry, the enshitification will commence.

[-] Mojeek@lemmy.ml 14 points 9 hours ago

we make money mainly from our api, our investors are patient private capital and we don't take vc, appreciate your point but these are fundamentally different situations, our ads (when they run) will also be contextual so more of a ddg situation than a "makes users into products to be sold to advertisers"

fair enough if it's not for you though

[-] Steve@communick.news 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

API index access is an important difference.
If it was only that, without public facing ad driven search, I'd be more impressed.

Maybe if you removed the adds, and severely rate limited your own public facing search, so it's more of a demo than an actual service. This would force you to solely make money off the API access, without directly competing against those customers.

That would be an honest buisness model. One that doesn't turn users into eyeballs for advertising. Which seems to me, to be the most insidious problem of the modern internet.

[-] Mojeek@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago

Agree to disagree here, but I'll refer to Cory Doctorow for a contextual vs behavioral/tracking ads comparison, one which is very good: https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/05/behavioral-v-contextual/#contextual-ads (applied to the media, but the general thread is relevant)

[-] pinkystew@reddthat.com 4 points 6 hours ago

I don't know if the comparison is inaccurate.

You make money from advertising to your users ("ddg situation" notwithstanding), are beholden to your investors (private status notwithstanding) and need to see more users to increase revenue. The person above you is saying that this model is what will drive you to eventually be as bad as Google. Do you understand?

[-] Mojeek@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago

We make money from our API, what they're referencing is a beta ads programme which was running

[-] eugenia@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 hours ago

Do you have topics that are censored? I searched for my reddit post "what I've learnt from the mantis aliens", and it does not show up in your results. Neither at google's. But it does on other search engines. The ufo/alien stuff are censored in most search engines, while there isn't a reason to be. That is how I judge search engines. And Mojeek doesn't give me the results I asked for.

[-] Mojeek@lemmy.ml 9 points 7 hours ago
this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2024
232 points (97.9% liked)

Privacy

31601 readers
761 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

Chat rooms

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS