any suggestions for ditching google?

[woodsmoke]

I didn't do the google+ and I seldom do facebook and haven't done twitter for several years.

But, apparently, Google is going to take all of the ways that you interact with "the net", apparently there are at least 60 sources(I think those are the "more" that you see next to search), and also things like YouTube and aggregate all of that into one profile and that way they can give you a "better experience" (code for they can sell more adverts because they can say that they are targeting you better.

In a way, it is limiting what you have access to in that, using the example they give, you type in Jaguar in search and Google "knows" if you are referring to the car or the cat.

Well, that also means that you are going to get a more narrow set of links to things like..... dingbats.... unless you purposely go to the trouble to use search terms that force the situation.

And, apparently this is going to affect Android users more than "computer" users.

Here is a link to the article on Android and Google.

Here is an article that already tells one how to "depersonalize" your Google stuff , some of it, as computer savvy people we already know but there is some other stuff like on the Android phone.

So, if you have concerns about maybe your searches of Victoria Secrets catalogues showing up in your MALE persona at Facebook, do you have any thoughts?

Another browser than FF, maybe Rekonq, or DaffyDuck or whatever that browser is?

woodsmoke

[kernelbasher]

Did you see Mint employed: DuckDuckGo
As the default search in their setup of Mint 12

[woodsmoke]

yes I've looked at DuckduckGo. Thanks for the name, I couldn't remember it.
Any other suggestions folks or just don't worry about it?

woodsmoke

[Telengard]

I use Ixquick because they track nothing, use no cookies and keep no logs. There is also Scroogle.

[woodsmoke]

WOAH! those are way kewl, and as a check I was able to log into my college site.
thanks
woodsmoke

[DoYouKubuntu]

I'm sorry, woodsmoke, but are you talking about Google the search engine or Google the browser (as in Chrome/Chromium)? Your OP kind of blurs it all...

If you're asking about search engines, I used to use DogPile but eventually just settled on Google. If it's browsers you're asking about, my personal favorite is SeaMonkey; I use its browser and its e-mail and news clients.

[woodsmoke]

Hi DYK
I apologize for missing your post, I have looked at all of your suggestions.

woodsmoke

[Flip the Switch]

Google worried me a lot, and so a couple of months ago, both "her indoors" and I shifted search engines to DuckDuckGo.
Takes a bit of getting used to as it is quite different to Google, but it is just as fast and truly amazing to see real search results coming up instead of the "tuned for you" Google ones.
I understand that Google's filtering search results is called "bubbling".
DuckDuckGo can be totally customised using URL extensions. For example my search home page is http://duckduckgo.com/?kl=uk-en&kc=1...s=m&ke=-1&kv=1
This does, UK results, autoload, colour blue etc etc
All the various options are here.... http://duckduckgo.com/params.html
Try it and I am sure you will like it.

[whatthefunk]

Dont accept cookies from google. Finished.

[GreyGeek]

Dont accept cookies from google. Finished.

Exactly. I use the script created by one of our admins, SteveRiley, that fetches the latest HOSTS file and merges it with your current one, trimming out the redundancies and fat. Just run it once a week, or month, or when ever, and be free of ad trackers and cookie machines and bandwidth robbing traffic from ad servers. Be aware, however, that some content won't display until a token is received from an ad server, so if you have it blocked the content won't show, or the video won't play. Such a small price to pay.

As far as Google vs DuckDuckGo .... I do NOT believe search engines that claim they do not log connections you make. They are lying. They have to keep track of who you connect to and what traffic you trigger, else how would they know if you abide by their terms of service, or are doing something illegal? A VPN is not a license to steal.

So, for me, I have no problem using Google's search engine. I only block cookies to speed up my browsing experience. IMO, Google is THE BEST free search engine on the web. Period. The ads I don't mind. They pay the electric bill which keeps the servers running, etc... The ad revenue is why I can enjoy G+, GoogleEarth, Sketchpad, DOCS, Trends, Maps, and even more. Just imagine the out of pocket expense you'd have to pay for those. And, if you think logging your searches is bad, consider the license traps built into proprietary software you run, if any. It's the main reason I stay away from proprietary software when ever possible -- the license compliance code is just too intrusive. When I Google I just scroll past the first dozen of so listings to get to the heart of what I am looking for. Even though I use a pseudonym anyone with half a brain could easily identify me by name and location: Jerry L Kreps, Lincoln, NE. The only reason why I began using my current handle is because it was a "gift" from the Husker Linux User Group which met in the Chem building on the campus of the University of Nebraska. I happened to be the oldest geek in the crowd at the time and the newly elected president couldn't think of (or pronounce?) my name so he referred to me as the "Grey Geek" in back. Everyone there started calling me that and the name stuck. If you search through LinuxToday postings before 2002 you'll see several posted by me under my real name. I don't post anonymously. IF I lived in China or similar repressive regimes, I would consider using a VPN and keep my fingers crossed, because there a difference of opinion can get you locked away or planted in the ground. I don't see a need for it in what is called "The Free World"... yet.

[ardvark71]

I use Ixquick because they track nothing, use no cookies and keep no logs. There is also Scroogle.

Hi Telengard...

Thank you for your links. :-)

I added lxquick to my list of search engines but Scroogle wouldn't come up for some reason.

Regards...

[rms]

As far as Google vs DuckDuckGo .... I do NOT believe search engines that claim they do not log connections you make. They are lying.

And the undisclosed domain registrar info can be viewed as even more suspicious. Why should they care to be hidden from public view if it's all fair and square because they are certainly known to the authorities

[r]

Doesnt private browsing feature help a little?

[rms]

Doesnt private browsing feature help a little?

Gives you privacy only on your machine.

[woodsmoke]

And, it "might be" that the "private browsers" "...might..." be actually queried regularly by certain law enforcement agencies since we now have an expansion of the whole "warrantless wiretaps" that the libs went nutso over with Bush and have been expanded by Obama and nobody has said a word.

"Warrantless" in that the dataloggers are searching for certain kinds of keywords such as "child" or "fertilizer" or "assassinate" "child support". And the said posters might think that, if they were not too sophisticated that DuckDuckGo would let them go to their "glassware" supplier with anonymity from the great government in the sky. No relation to the great Spagghetti Monster in the Sky. lol

just a thought.

woodsmoke