Show HN: Don't Be Evil, A Chrome extension based on the Focus on the User script
github.com
github.com
The biggest issue for me was a massive, "so what?" I installed the extension and did some searches. A few G+ results, nothing else. Okay, I'll search for things I know some of my friends on facebook have talked about lately. Nothing. Alright, I'll search for "deadmau5". Nothing. What's this? 80 personal results? Sure, let's check those. Hey, a twitter link!... to someone I have on G+.
Really not sure what the authors were trying to prove, here. In the end, I got a snarky logo and the same damned results I would have gotten from Google, anyway. Removed.
Note: this is not a failing of the extension's author; I just went back and tried the same searches with the original script and had the same results. No, I didn't Google "movies" as they suggested, and nor has anyone since 1999. When I google "SOPA" without the script, I get a mix of Wikipedia, EFF, and some relevant links from G+. When I repeat the search with the script, I get the same thing and a snarky logo.
Instead of chastising Google for not including results from networks that don't want their social graphs exposed, these "independent engineers" might want to focus on doing social search themselves. Why aren't we complaining that facebook doesn't include G+ in its search results? Might it be because this entire issue is a tempest in a teapot stirred up by companies that wanted to dominate social search, but were beaten to the punch by a company that dominates (surprise, surprise) search?
I guess the only real difference is mine is available through the Chrome Web Store and has the full extension source hosted.
EDIT: Checked with a few people, no one remembers seeing the extension link earlier today. Can anyone confirm when they first saw it? (I saw the post around 10 this morning and decided to write the extension. Just want to confirm my efforts weren't totally in vein)
The extension only adds more social links the "Related People and Pages" sidebar. Even then, it only adds links, it doesn't remove the Google+ pages. Your regular search results are not modified at all. Try searching for "movies" to get a better feel for what it actually does.
Trey Ratcliff: https://plus.google.com/105237212888595777019/posts
Guy Kawasaki: https://plus.google.com/112374836634096795698/posts
Neither of them show up after I install your chrome extension because the "Show Personal Results" is enabled by default. Your extension does show those G+ profile pages ONLY IF I switch to "Hide Personal Results". This is a problem with the original bookmarklet as well.
Search results with your extension ENABLED and "Show Personal Results" selected: http://www.quick-markup.com/edit/4f1e4698e51f6
Search results with your extension ENABLED and "Hide Personal Results" selected: http://www.quick-markup.com/edit/4f1e487c9ac72
Search results with your extension DISABLED and "Hide Personal Results" selected: http://www.quick-markup.com/edit/4f1e47b4f0723
The extension was not available when I started working on my own. Phew!