Alternative search mechanism

[sickasapike]

Hello, I have trouble searching the forum as it uses the google search engine, and I don't; or, I tell my browser not to anyway. Is there another mechanism to search the collected wisdom hereabouts that doesn't tell google where I am and what I'm interested in and link it to whatever else is coming from this address etc so it can chuck adverts at me blah blah

phpBB used to have integrated search - has that disappeared / is there some option I can set ?

I can make it work temporarily by allowing google but it's a bit of a pain each time, but too easy to leave unlocked, and I'd really rather not.

 

[MattRoberts]

http://ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/search.php

 

[marcros]

you can use the search function under user tools. (top right)

the one at the top centre of the page is google, the other one is not.

 

[sickasapike]

Brilliant, thanks guys !

 

[Keith 66]

Aaha, Thanks from me too!

 

[bugbear]

Is there another mechanism to search the collected wisdom hereabouts that doesn't tell google where I am and what I'm interested in and link it to whatever else is coming from this address etc so it can chuck adverts at me blah blah

I find that google adverts are well enough targeted that I quite like (some) of the adverts it chucks at me.

Certainly better than random adverts anyway.

BugBear

 

[sickasapike]

I find that google adverts are well enough targeted that I quite like (some) of the adverts it chucks at me.
Certainly better than random adverts anyway.

It's not so much the advertising, it's the building of a permanent, detailed dossier about me that I object to, and the selling of that dossier to anyone that wants it.

Chris (life long IT consultant in real life, not paranoid lunatic )

 

[worn thumbs]

I find that google adverts are well enough targeted that I quite like (some) of the adverts it chucks at me.
Certainly better than random adverts anyway.

It's not so much the advertising, it's the building of a permanent, detailed dossier about me that I object to, and the selling of that dossier to anyone that wants it.

Chris (life long IT consultant in real life, not paranoid lunatic )

I share your disdain for the aggregation of information.It seems to me that Mozilla may have sold out these days as almost every Firefox update seems intended to block the add ons that frustrate g*****e.com.If these organisations wish to profit from my information without sharing the proceeds,they deserve to be frustrated.I read recently that the EU competition commisioner uses Duckduckgo.com as a less intrusive search engine.

 

[MikeG.]

.......It's not so much the advertising, it's the building of a permanent, detailed dossier about me that I object to, and the selling of that dossier to anyone that wants it.

Chris (life long IT consultant in real life, not paranoid lunatic )

Duckduckgo?

I avoid google because they don't bother paying their fair share of tax.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Someone a while back posted a joke about Googles pizzas that would be appropriate here - maybe this will prompt them to repeat it.

 

[RogerP]

I've been on the interweb more-or-less since the beginning and I'm sure my details are spread far and wide. However simply by using a decent ad blocker and not using MS I get very few ads and those few that do appear are usually targeted at my interests, which I don't particularly mind.

 

[bugbear]

I've been on the interweb more-or-less since the beginning and I'm sure my details are spread far and wide. However simply by using a decent ad blocker and not using MS I get very few ads and those few that do appear are usually targeted at my interests, which I don't particularly mind.

From a purely selfish point of view, what could be better than being told about a product that you REALLY like, that you didn't previously know about? That is a perfect advert, for both seller and buyer.

BugBear

 

[RogerP]

I've been on the interweb more-or-less since the beginning and I'm sure my details are spread far and wide. However simply by using a decent ad blocker and not using MS I get very few ads and those few that do appear are usually targeted at my interests, which I don't particularly mind[/u].

From a purely selfish point of view, what could be better than being told about a product that you REALLY like, that you didn't previously know about? That is a perfect advert, for both seller and buyer.

BugBear

I agree, well targeted ads don't bother me.

 

[Seiken]

Hi,
I use Opera which has a built in ad blocker, I find it quicker as there is no waiting for ads to load which slows things down a lot on some sites, also use Duckduckgo on my tablet as search engine.

 

[MattRoberts]

You're going to get adverts wherever you go - it's the primary source of monetisation for the vast majority of sites. Better to get relevant targeted ads than generic spray-and-pray, in my view.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

There are three potential trackers on this page according to Privacy Badger (which I use), and no adverts because I use something else (shouldn't say that here, really ).

 

[Seiken]

This page according to Opera speedtest, like phil.p I should'nt say that!

 

[sickasapike]

Anyone know if this still exists ? - I'll not search via google, what I'm thinking about is none of their damn business !!

 

[HappyHacker]

I use Ghostry to stop trackers. It is concerning the number of trackers of various sorts that some web sites have, this one only has four, three from google and one called OpenX.

I use duckduckgo and startpage for searching as I am concerned about my internet activity being the product that google and others sell.

Reminds me of the MP who complained that the House of Commons computers kept on displaying adverts for pornographic web sites and it should be stopped. Someone pointed out that the adverts were based on his web browsing history!

 

[sickasapike]

I use Ghostry to stop trackers. It is concerning the number of trackers of various sorts that some web sites have, this one only has four, three from google and one called OpenX.

Same here, just spotted and disabled the google search api.

I use duckduckgo and startpage for searching as I am concerned about my internet activity being the product that google and others sell.

Amen to that, once you get these addons going it's amazing to see how many trackers are watching what you do online, even on government sites and other places where you have to go to do normal life business so it's Firefox, Duck Duck Go, Telegram etc. for me.

Then I start a contract and the client build me an email address with my full name in it and register me with Google API, Microsoft Team Services, Azure etc all in that name, ho hum... one does what one can !!