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Tag: search

  • Samsung realized switching Google for Bing was bad

    Samsung realized switching Google for Bing was bad

    Google has long been the default search engine on Galaxy handsets thanks to payments from Samsung. But with a revelation that Samsung was considering switching to Bing as the default search engine last month, that agreement appeared to be in jeopardy.

    Now, according to sources familiar with the situation, Samsung has postponed an internal review of switching from Google to Bing, according to the Wall Street Journal (h/t: Reuters).

    The outlet claims that Samsung initially thought about changing the default search engine in the Samsung Internet browser to Bing. According to reports, the business reasoned that since the majority of Samsung users already choose alternative browsers like Chrome, switching wouldn’t “significantly disrupt the status quo.

    Samsung

    Why did Samsung changed its mind?

    According to WSJ’s sources, the business chose to put a review on hold for the time being due to worries about how the switch would be seen by the market and how it would affect its relationship with Google.

    According to the sources, Samsung isn’t totally ruling out switching to Bing. So it’s feasible that the business will examine the issue and change search providers in the future.

    In any case, we can’t say that we’re shocked that Samsung has chosen to continue with Google. After all, Google has long been the Galaxy phones’ default search engine. Who knows, maybe Samsung got a better bargain as a result of this controversy.

  • DuckDuckGo’s search not so private afterall

    DuckDuckGo’s search not so private afterall

    Only one name comes to mind when it comes to privacy-friendly search engines: DuckDuckGo. As narrow as it is, the company has managed to spin its success in other directions, including a privacy-focused browser for Android and iOS that is reportedly devoid of trackers. According to a new revelation, DuckDuckGo’s cooperation with Microsoft may have lost the company its position as a “no tracking” provider.

    DuckDuckGo

    As detailed by Bleeping Computer, privacy researcher Zach Edward recently discovered that, while DuckDuckGo’s browser stopped sites like Facebook and Google from using trackers to scrape user data, Microsoft’s websites — including LinkedIn and Bing — bypassed this blockade entirely. It goes against the search engine’s biggest selling point, and more specifically, undermines the entire reason the DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser exists.

    To his credit, CEO and founder Gabriel Weinberg quickly admitted that the browser does, in fact, allow Microsoft to evade its tracking filters within the browser, and that this is done on purpose. According to Weinberg, it all comes down to the two firms’ search syndication agreement, which allows DuckDuckGo to use Bing results in its search results. It’s the most important component of a collection of over 400 sources, which includes Wikipedia and Wolfram Alpha. Weinberg further highlighted that this agreement only applies to the browser and not the search engine.

    https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1529227041882742785

    Still, it’s difficult to justify when the app’s main selling point — literally the first line of its Play Store listing — is to disable trackers on the user’s behalf. Following Edward’s discovery on Twitter two days ago, Weinberg stated that the company was working with Microsoft to remove this specific stipulation from the contract, as well as offering a clarification update to the Play Store and App Store listings. The CEO also issued a statement to Bleeping Computer, emphasizing that, while its browser isn’t flawless, it is still significantly more private than the competitors, with faster load speeds. As Weinberg points out, DuckDuckGo’s browser has never guaranteed complete anonymity. Hopefully, this is an opportunity for the organization to improve.