> it still baffles me how bad the alternatives still are
Kagi
Kagi
Arguably this is not their fault - I really wish iOS/MacOS Safari let you set a custom search engine instead of picking from a fixed list.
The links points however are a bit ridiculous, they're entitled to their opinion but may be surprised to find people, at the businesses they use, have opinions that differ to theirs, and these businesses aren't always well-oiled machines.
For a consumer facing business with no lock in, the tax thing makes absolutely no difference in your life using the product.
If it was really a concern you'd simply no longer have access and change search engine, until then it doesn't matter. You'd be surprised what tax issues even large billion dollar companies have.
I mean, if I reduce my plastic use because I stop buying product X then that's still better (in my eyes) than if I did nothing. Or if Company Y has some egregious political ties, I cut them off, but Company Z is a huge conglomerate so I can't cut them off. Still a better deal than doing nothing.
And compare Google and Kagi? Monopoly bad or Employee bad, which do you choose?
As I say unless its egregious. It's a nice idea but doesn't work in practice there's always trade offs.
It's purely tribal thinking i.e. this one is on my side so I can't go near that one.
No, not really. Some sides of the coin are just bad.
I get very frustrated at this "tribal thinking" notion that I hear a lot these days. It's not bad to have values and then at least try to stick to those values.
If someone doesn't like something they shouldn't be forced to endure it. I see this with so-called "cancel culture" too. It's not a cancel culture if you say something offensive and people stop listening. They're not trying to hurt you, that's not their intention. They just didn't like it so instead they go listen/watch something they DO like. That's predictable.
I mean, what's the end goal here? I use a product I don't even like just for the fun of it? Really? But I don't even like it...
After Chick-fil-a openly and vehemently opposed gay marriage in 2015 (and after!), I stopped eating there. And guess what? I don't miss it. I'm not worse off, at all. If anything, I'm better off, because the food is unhealthy anyway. Boom, it's that easy.
I'm saying there's some other dirt on something you currently using instead that makes the whole endeavor pointless.
It's hypocritical if you say I disagree with you and I'm boycotting and then go ahead and use another company who has said something you disagree with in the past anyway.
It's the equivalent of the village mob roaming house to house for whatever reason. And then targeting one house specifically as it has better sun than the rest.
"Are they actually planting these trees?" and "How would I possibly verify?"
"Does Microsoft actually pay them? All I'm doing is clicking? Is that worth enough?"
"How does anybody verify, and how is it not just an optimization for Ecosia to farm clicks for money? Chinese/Indian/Bangladeshi/Nigerian/MechTurk click farms don't cost that much. Seen the prices on MechTurk?"
The only earn money if people click ads, just like any other search engine. Microsoft isn't paying them to show them Bing results.
It uses google search behind the scenes. Among other search providers.
After reading the founders thoughts, if they were any sort of sizable company they would immediately have a GDPR violation. "emails and any info you give to use voluntarily (search prefs) is not PII and as such you can't have your data back." :0