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1. Embed this notice
   Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Saturday, 16-Nov-2024 20:29:16 JST Charlie Stross

   Sounds like Google has changed A LOT since I last visited them (back in 2016, I think): and entirely for the worse … https://circumstances.run/@davidgerard/113492369837409804

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Saturday, 16-Nov-2024 21:41:38 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • Seanochicago

     @Seanochicago Search algorithms on the ad-funded web are all about *selling you something you don't need or want*. Marketing in the purest sense. When the W3C opted for ad-supported web rather than microbilling to fund build-out of the internet to the general public back in 1996 they made a terrible mistake: in the 30 year time scale it may turn out to have cost us democracy.

   • Embed this notice
     seanochicago@mastodon.sdf.org's status on Saturday, 16-Nov-2024 21:41:39 JST Seanochicago

     in reply to

     @cstross Have you ever tried searching for something specific on Amazon? It’s like “we don’t want you to buy that (cat food), we want you to buy this (iPhone case)!”

     Search algorithms stopped helping the buyer long ago.

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Saturday, 16-Nov-2024 23:14:53 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • The Spoonless Kitchen

     @thespoonless What even is that? (You neglected to make it a URL and I'm reading this in an ipad mastodon client that doesn't really allow cut'n'paste from within a tweet.)

   • Embed this notice
     The Spoonless Kitchen (thespoonless@epicure.social)'s status on Saturday, 16-Nov-2024 23:14:54 JST The Spoonless Kitchen

     in reply to

     @cstross Anyone not using searx.neocities.org in this, the year of our lord 2024, deserves every bad search result they get IMNSHO.

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Sunday, 17-Nov-2024 02:07:45 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • Seanochicago

     @Seanochicago Yes, I was there for Canter & Siegel too (feels old)

   • Embed this notice
     seanochicago@mastodon.sdf.org's status on Sunday, 17-Nov-2024 02:07:46 JST Seanochicago

     in reply to

     @cstross Eh, they would have fucked it up anyway. Remember the first big spam email campaign? Green cards? Everyone was up in arms, but it stopped absolutely nothing.

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Sunday, 17-Nov-2024 02:50:52 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • Timothy Clark

     @tclark Exactly.

   • Embed this notice
     Timothy Clark (tclark@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 17-Nov-2024 02:50:53 JST Timothy Clark

     in reply to

     @cstross Advertisement doesn't just enshittify products, it enshittifies culture.