Some time ago, I grew so tired of Google's need to screw with my search results that I switched over to Bing for searching and found that it met my needs much better.
First, let me state that I really don't care that Google harvests my data for advertising purposes. If Google has found a way to anticipate money-saving sources for my near future purchases and give me one-click access to these vendors, I am of the opinion that this makes my life a little easier, and makes a vendor richer, right alongside Google. Sounds like win-win-win to me.
I didn't give up Google searches for the advertising, I gave it up because Google kept showing me the same stuff over and over again. If I'm searching the same term for the bazillionth time, that means I haven't found what I was looking for the previous bazillion-minus-one times. I also didn't like how Stationary Waves kept coming up in my searches. I already know how to search my own blog, using the search bar at the top-left of the blog itself; I don't want to find my own web content. I want to see what other people know that I don't know. That's the whole reason I'm searching in the first place!
The advertisements for Bing promised a better search experience, so I put their claims to the test, and came out on top. I even enjoyed getting "Bing Rewards" for using their search engine. It was all working beautifully until I installed the Bing extension for the Chrome browser. Presented as a way to access information pertaining to Bing Rewards more easily, I took the bait.
Today, however, I discovered that the Bing Rewards extension had modified my browser settings in a way I neither approved no encouraged. The people at Bing may feel that they are getting a foot in the door with a loyal Google customer. In reality, they're competing with me for space on my own web browser.
It's a lesson in how far you can trust a company to stay legitimately helpful for their loyal customers: not as far as they can be thrown. Given enough leeway, any one of these companies will encroach on your system as far as they can.
Caveat emptor.
First, let me state that I really don't care that Google harvests my data for advertising purposes. If Google has found a way to anticipate money-saving sources for my near future purchases and give me one-click access to these vendors, I am of the opinion that this makes my life a little easier, and makes a vendor richer, right alongside Google. Sounds like win-win-win to me.
I didn't give up Google searches for the advertising, I gave it up because Google kept showing me the same stuff over and over again. If I'm searching the same term for the bazillionth time, that means I haven't found what I was looking for the previous bazillion-minus-one times. I also didn't like how Stationary Waves kept coming up in my searches. I already know how to search my own blog, using the search bar at the top-left of the blog itself; I don't want to find my own web content. I want to see what other people know that I don't know. That's the whole reason I'm searching in the first place!
The advertisements for Bing promised a better search experience, so I put their claims to the test, and came out on top. I even enjoyed getting "Bing Rewards" for using their search engine. It was all working beautifully until I installed the Bing extension for the Chrome browser. Presented as a way to access information pertaining to Bing Rewards more easily, I took the bait.
Today, however, I discovered that the Bing Rewards extension had modified my browser settings in a way I neither approved no encouraged. The people at Bing may feel that they are getting a foot in the door with a loyal Google customer. In reality, they're competing with me for space on my own web browser.
It's a lesson in how far you can trust a company to stay legitimately helpful for their loyal customers: not as far as they can be thrown. Given enough leeway, any one of these companies will encroach on your system as far as they can.
Caveat emptor.
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