bing is preferred…

…because it isn't so “smart”.

I prefer basic web search over “auto-tailored search”, so although I am a registered Google user and have implemented Google's on-site search, right now I prefer Bing for searching the world wide web.

Bing has “fallen from grace” since I wrote this article.
See: switched to DuckDuckGo for all my searches for more.

Ever since Google started geolocation tailored searches, they have “located me” in the wrong country. More than one wrong country over the last couple of years actually, and never the right one. Google insists on serving me stuff written in or translated to the wrong languages, and along the same lines: YouTube videos with people and stuff I did not know existed and could not care less about, are “presented first by default”.

Someone has made a serious mistake somewhere between my real position and the world wide web, and a series of complaints over the years have lead to absolutely nothing but more mistakes. I have given up on that route.

Regardless of who is to blame for this “location misery”, there are no such problems with Bing – at least not yet. Consequently: Bing is at the top and Google is at the bottom, for search in my browsers.

none of their business.

Nobody's business but mine where I am in the world at any given time, and if I want somebody to know I'll tell them. Under no circumstances is it any business' business to know where I am, and I am not gonna tell unless I want one to send me something that can't be digitized and sent over a secure web channel.

Can't remember when I last searched for anything somewhat closer to home, but when I do I know how to tailor my own search. No search engine can do anything but mess up my searches by enforcing their own “smart search” solutions on me, regardless of whether they get the “automated parameters” right or wrong.

It is a clear case of “everything was better before”. Indeed, it was better before to those of us who knew what we were doing and why we were doing it. Can't speak for the others…

Now we all get treated as if we are just a bunch of morons who don't know what is best for us and always need help to find what we neither want nor need – all to help businesses sell their products and/or turn us into products that can be traded. Yes, I would like some help – to turn off all the stupid “helpfulness” once and for all.

privacy?

Privacy – an important factor to many – is of little concern to me in this respect. I have been on the web and involved in IT for too long to worry about such matters once I go on line. Everything and everyone on the world wide web is public and exploitable.

I don't care what data related to my geopositions and/or activities on line that gets collected and stored somewhere. Doesn't bother me if my off line activities get mapped also. Nothing particularly interesting to find if it's all combined and cross-analyzed.

The problem with some search engines is only that I always have to take a series of extra steps to bypass all the “smart search tailored” nonsense in order to find what I want. Should not be necessary, and is not a privacy issue no matter how it is solved.

Bing will be my main search engine from now on, unless, or until, they also introduce geolocation tailored searches and/or other nonsense that can't be permanently turned off in a simple way. Search engines that won't let me search what I want from wherever I want in the way I want, are obviously of no use to me whatsoever.

I always set Bing so it does not tailor new searches based on previous ones, or distract me with other people's preferences. I rarely ever search within the same subject group twice in a row – split personality maybe(‽), and have minimal interest in what's “hot” today in other people's minds.

give me that “permanent off” switch.

All I want is that “smart solutions off” switch, prominently displayed so it is easy to use, and with guarantee that it actually works. “Fake switches” and “trust me” utterings are all over the web, so don't expect me to believe anything without testing in a safe setting.

As all that is good in one scenario can be turned to bad in another scenario, makes technology used on and behind the web as potent tools as a knife – can be used to spread butter on bread or to kill. Getting it right depends on who's in control, and an aware public to control them.

Wonder what automated nonsense that comes next, both in search engines and elsewhere across the world wide web. Imagination is the only limitation – in more ways than one.

sincerely  georg; sign

Hageland 04.aug.2012
06.aug.2012 - minor revision
27.sep.2013 - minor additions
23.jul.2016 - added "fallen from grace" comment
last rev: 23.jul.2016


side notes.

finding it hard to opt out?

Something has changed radically over the last few years. Today we have to “opt out” of more than we “opt in” to, and “opt out” is often deliberately misinterpreted as a strengthened “opt in” at the other end – once “in” we can't get rid of them.

Must be something seriously wrong with human minds in control of all this nonsense – wonder if they can be debugged.

time for some “home improvement”.

First we take out the trash = filter out all we don't want and throw it in the bin before it reaches our screens and/or settles in memory. As Sturgeon's Law apply to all things web as much as to anything else – if not more so, strong local filtering and clean-up procedures is recommended.

I have reverted to local black­listing and clean-up instead of going the more and more ineffective “opt out” route. Easier to just trash and burn garbage unseen and let the morons continue to count me in for as long as they like. Same as for unwanted on-line and real-world mail – it's a game.

Of course we all “Enable Fraud and Malware Protection” in our browsers. Would be stupid not to even if the lists always will be incomplete.

I have of course also checked the “Ask web sites not to track me” box in my browsers, but don't expect it to help much against aggressive businesses that will do anything to push their stuff onto everyone within reach. I have other filters against those…

There are always settings and add-ons that are or can be tailored to filter out what we don't want. Which defenses with what settings to choose, is up to the individual person, group or institution in need of protection against all the crap we are being served and subjected to. There are no universal “one size fits all” solutions around, I'm afraid.

What we all should know by now is that Sturgeon's Law also apply to add-ons, plug-ins and software claiming to be tailored to help protect us from the bad stuff/people. Plenty of examples found that highlight that making the wrong choices with regard to protection may be worse than having no protection.

no common good served by apathy.

We do not serve any common good by silently accepting everything “bright minds” throw at us. They do it all to serve self‐interests, and will go as far as they can get away with with little to no respect for others. Thus, self‐interests is what we should put first too.

In my opinion: individual right to judge everything that is sent our way against our own “like / don't like” rules, and act accordingly, is indisputable. Most of us also have just as valid “don't care” rules for handling the gray area between “like” and “don't like”, so we may as well recognize and apply those too.

was it really any better before?

Yes, in the sense that it took more time and effort on the buggers' and crap servers' part to bug us, as we could not all be reached in one place. Now the buggers got us right where they want us, and can cheat and lie all they want in order to seek out stupid individuals, without putting in any effort at all.

The most important thing we can do at the receiving end of all this, is to find ways to seek and sort out the good ones in a sea of crap. Angie's list shows how it can be done – we need more end-user oriented and controlled lists like that around the world wide web.

I only trust what I have personally checked and found to be any good, and recheck ever so often just to make sure I catch any “policy changes” for the worse. One can never be too careful…

On the other hand: no need to become paranoid.


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