Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore

Re:Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google ... by levhawk on Monday May 25, 2026 @11:22AM (#48267928)

Ru-speaking audience is ~2 times bigger than Russia, why would they cut this? Only because of SJWs like you? I'd much prefer one search engine that searches well on two languages, instead of using different engines for each language. Ru-net has huge amount of usefulness in it, cutting it out is like cutting a finger. Fun fact, before the RU-UKR war, most Ukranians contributed to the Runet, so that would cut their heritage too.

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Re:Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google ... by mort96 on Monday May 25, 2026 @11:27AM (#48267991)

Yandex isn't just a "Russian language search engine", it's a Russian company with quite close ties to the Kremlin. See: https://www.zois-berlin.de/en/publications/zois-spotlight/th...

I'm frankly a bit surprised that it's even legal for a US company like Kagi to do business with Yandex, considering it's sanctioned: https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/Details.aspx?id=18711. Though in fairness, I don't know enough about how exactly sanction laws work so it might be legally okay even if I find it morally questionable.

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Re:Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google ... by levhawk on Monday May 25, 2026 @11:51AM (#48268262)

Yes, Yandex was effectively seized by Ru govt "friends" and turned into propaganda tool. And that's very unfortunate. But I'm not talking about getting the propaganda, only about search index. About money - don't think this income is even remotely comparable with oil/gas incomes, which EU passes to RU.

Please don't start political debate. I do not like censorship of any kind, hence my initial response. I want to have available information in full.

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Re:Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google ... by mort96 on Monday May 25, 2026 @11:59AM (#48268357)

Please don't pretend I'm turning this into a "political debate". Your position is, "Kagi ought to keep doing business with Russia". That in itself is highly political. No side of this issue is apolitical.

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Re:Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google ... by levhawk on Monday May 25, 2026 @12:05PM (#48268431)

My position was more about access to information, that business side for me is secondary, as unavoidable evil. If kagi will find a ru-index with decent quality, I'll be more than happier. Right now yandex has the best index, but given the decay of ru tech sector now, especially now when it's oligarch-managed, that might not be for long.

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Re:Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google ... by notpushkin on Monday May 25, 2026 @11:48AM (#48268226)

Yandex has quite a few international entities, which are probably not direct subsidiaries, which in turn probably helps with sanctions. Yandex Cloud seems to be sold by a UAE company internationally: https://yandex.cloud/en/about#impressum

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