We don't need to. We have LLMs now
Their search is much, much cleaner, that's for sure. But what made me stick (and mostly ditch DDG, which btw is also much cleaner than google), was how well their fastgpt works as a search tool.
Summaries are very good, it includes recent events and news, it goes through pdfs, always cites it's sources. Does hallucinate for me sometimes, but I always can tell it's incorrect by the response itself. Plus it usually gives me links that easily clear out the confusion. Especially in IT field I can tell I'm fed with the source of my trouble (like initial GitHub issue that introduces broken functionality, source pdf of a study) and less discussion around it.
Their search has some neat features as well, as you can simply choose to see less/no results from given site straight from list of search results.
We need SEO companies to realize they will go out of business if they continue to generate crap filler content for their clients.
We know Google won't do it. We need influence. We need effective results.
Self-hosted is cute but ineffective at best, selfish at worst.
Need is a strong term and it is likely doing a lot of work in that claim. We, technically, do not need much bar food, water and shelter. In that sense, the post is absolutely correct. Realistically, there is zero need for self-hosting, or linux, or anything much really.
But even if we get past the need claim, why is setting up a duopoly a preferred option to people actually running their own preferred setups ( and maybe even learning something in the process )?
More importantly, why on earth would I want yet another giant corporation in charge of my digital life?
<< create proper website incentives so the Internet stops sucking.
Interestingly, linux tinkerers and self-hosters are likely one of the few reasons web does not suck AS much as it otherwise could have. In a sense, the incentives are there.
<< We need SEO companies to realize they will go out of business if they continue to generate crap filler content for their clients.
Business is just that.. a business. I don't expect mosquito not to bite me. If anything, the whole premise is wrong. SEO companies defer to google's wishes and google heard the pleas of the ad industry and declared war on adblockers.
<< We need influence. We need effective results.
Zero disagreement.
<< Self-hosted is cute but ineffective at best, selfish at worst.
I dunno. It might be selfish, but I am ok with that if that is the worst. I would worry about it being ineffective, but.. I like my various instances. They serve a purpose to me.
Case in point, I asked an LLM what the last non cellular windows mobile classic PDA was. (I knew the answer) And it routinely got it wrong.
This is what LLMs should be useful for. If I cant audit the results or very how it came to the conclusion the answer is useless.
LLMs are toys at this juncture.
vs 4o: The last non-cellular Windows Mobile Classic PDA was the HP iPAQ 110 Classic. Released in 2008, it ran on Windows Mobile 6.0 Classic and featured a 624-MHz Marvell PXA310 processor, 256MB of Flash ROM, and a 3.5-inch screen with a 240 x 320 resolution. It included Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity but lacked cellular capabilities, making it one of the final models in the declining PDA market as smartphones began to dominate [oai_citation:1,List of Windows Mobile devices - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Windows_Mobile_devices) [oai_citation:2,The End of the Classic Version of Windows Mobile (AKA the PDA)](http://www.pocketpcfaq.com/commentary/end_of_WM_Classic.htm) [oai_citation:3,HP iPAQ 110 Classic - PDA Like It's 1999 - WiFi Planet](https://wi-fiplanet.com/hp-ipaq-110-classic/).
I know which version I'd prefer.
Also why are you entering questions into the Google search prompt?
All of that to say: solved problem? Assuming you're ok with chat as the UI