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Apple Drops Bing Search Engine Results for Siri and Spotlight in Favor of Google

Privacy concerns aside, I welcome this move. While I'm under the impression that Bing has actually become quite OK in the US, it's been more or less a disaster elsewhere. For after all, when searching for something, I'd prefer getting actually relevant results.
 
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thogin said:
I'm surprised Apple hasn't purchased DuckDuckGo and used that search engine, instead. The two companies seem like a good fit.
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Sure hope they don't buy it! They would rip out everything thats good about it, namely your privacy.
 
I find this kind of odd. Coming from a privacy first. I dunno what to think. but whatever it is, its probably a good move.

Just not a reason i can think of right now..

Tzuten said:
Sure hope they don't buy it! They would rip out everything thats good about it, namely your privacy.
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DuckDuckGo is designed to protect our privacy *more*.... That wouldn't mean it would 100%, but I would trust it more than Google. But Apple purchasing it,,, Not in your life, i can't imagine a world where Apple is no longer 'Apple.'
 
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chrono1081 said:
Honestly Bing has always returned better media results than Google and as of the past two years, more relevant search results than Google. I'm kind of disappointed to see this.
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stop trolling............"More relevant search results than Google"
 
truthertech said:
And no, you are completely fabricating that Apple has that info and is selling it.
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Quick test. Who said the following, Google or Apple?

We may collect information such as occupation, language, zip code, area code, unique device identifier, referrer URL, location, and the time zone where a product is used so that we can better understand customer behavior and improve our products, services, and advertising.
 
Installed as per usual. However my messages quit shortly after. I did notice that Bonjour doesn't seem to be present anymore. Not on safari either. I recall it had something to do with iMessage in the early days. I assume its not relevant anymore. Other than that this update seems to be working OK. So far.
 
therefore Siri on mac using macOS High Sierra won't be able to used in China?
was it either / or only Bing or Google before?
 
dazz87 said:
stop trolling............"More relevant search results than Google"
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I'm not trolling, I'm simply more experienced than you when it comes to doing lots of searches.

Seriously try other search engines for once, I'm not the only one echoing this sentiment.
 
chrono1081 said:
No, just for you to stop accusing people of trolling on a subject you know nothing about.
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i know some down right hate Google so much but please stop lying that bing is a better search engine than Google.............
 
Hopefully that means Siri and additional Spotlight features coming to more markets, as the Bing backend was the limiting factor. Google's "smart" features work pretty much everywhere, thanks to huge Android penetration.
 
truthertech said:
We already know that. Apple is spending billions to create a new base map that should be finished in 2018. For now, Apple Maps, after a disastrous start, has blown by Google Maps in terms of usage, and is now used billions and billions of times a week by Apple customers, used exponentially more than Google Maps even though Google Maps is free and only takes a minute to download. Independent tests show they have achieved the same level of accuracy, and with lane assist being added in iOS 11, the main feature Google Maps still has is Street View, which Apple will soon have a more advanced and smoother version of as they complete their new base map. I'd still give Google and edge in searching, but that is rapidly closing and is more than offset by the fact that if you use Google maps, Google knows where you drive and adds that to your master file they have for everyone across all their services, e.g., every photo you take, every email you send or receive, every search you make, every document you create, etc., etc., and is kept forever and is available to LE, Intel, hackers, etc. DON"T FEED BIG BROTHER (GOOGLE) , you'll regret it someday.
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You completely neglect that GoogleMaps is offering the geographic index/context to its vast resources that Apple will never have (the planet's largest infobases about businesses, architecture, important buildings, tourist attractions etc. etc.)
While Apple certainly has its own pitch around graphical representation and travel, offering global information is not their core business, and they can't win. So better stay out.
 
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Jsameds said:
Step one of many by Craig. Siri simply needs to be better, even more so with HomePod in the horizon.

Keep the changes rolling.
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I think one of the reasons Siri feels so behind Google, is that when Siri displays web results it feels like Siri has failed.

If you ask Siri to "tell me about the new iPhone" it will recommend Apple's website and throw up a link. If you ask Siri to "tell me about the new Samsung phone" it will perform a web search which includes Samsung's website as the first result.

In a way, it gives you the same information. But web results in Siri feel like a "fail safe". Does Google Now distinguish between an instance of understanding vs not understanding at all?
 
ruchern said:
How can one change Spotlight search to use DuckDuckGo instead?
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It's a shame you can't. I've been ditching everything Google, at least in my private life, since I've started to hate their guts more and more, but now it seems I'll be switching web searches off for High Sierra entirely. I'm not using Siri, so no loss there.

5XhHyB.png
 
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Quu said:
I hope this is being done in a privacy conscious way with randomised UUID's and Apples servers handling the search so Google doesn't get our IP Addresses. That's all I have to say about this change.

EDIT:// Seems they are protecting our privacy:
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Just like Duck Duck Go, you can search Google through DDG and the search is encrypted and anonymized to protect your privacy and also (hopefully Siri will do the same) keep you out of the search bubble.
 
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Wonder Warthog said:
It's a shame you can't. I've been ditching everything Google, at least in my private life, since I've started to hate their guts more and more, but now it seems I'll be switching web searches off for High Sierra entirely. I'm not using Siri, so no loss there.

5XhHyB.png
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Yeah, I am kind of gutted to not have the option to opt out of Google's search. Meanwhile, I took the whole of Saturday painstakingly to migrate my emails out of Google, and here I have Apple forcing me to use Google with Spotlight search. I cannot say to ditch Spotlight search, after all this is the part of macOS I use to open apps.
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decafjava said:
Just like Duck Duck Go, you can search Google through DDG and the search is encrypted and anonymized to protect your privacy and also (hopefully Siri will do the same) keep you out of the search bubble.
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Well, I think Little Snitch can see the communication of Spotlight to which Google service they are using, encrypted one or not.
 
ruchern said:
I cannot say to ditch Spotlight search, after all this is the part of macOS I use to open apps.
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Just uncheck the parts I marked red in the Spotlight preferences screenshot and you're good. Google search will only replace the parts that used to be powered by Bing, it won't replace ALL of Spotlight, only the online suggestions part.
 
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