My favorite private search engine, Kagi, just added the ability to pay via either on-chain or Lightning through an integration with OpenNode. This was a longstanding request on their feedback page. I'm so excited that they implemented it.
Now they just need to implement logging in with LNURL-auth, kind of like you guys do it. I've been trying to find the time to help them with that but have not gotten around to it yet. The benefit of LNURL-auth for me would be the ability to easily login on any computer without having to type in a username and password each time. It would also do away with using an email address, if you really wanted to stay as private as you could be.
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125 sats \ 2 replies \ @stacker_shredding445 1 Sep 2023 freebie
Ironically enough, I just came hear from the Kagi Forms. It's an excellent search engine, so I would recommend it for others.
I have used bitcoin for a while now but have never seen this place. I love hacker news and bitcoin, so its awesome to be here!
Now I just have to figure out how stacker news works.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @aoeu OP 1 Sep 2023
You can also use your stacker news lightning address under Profile (mine is aoeu@stacker.news) to receive sats via other compatible lightning wallets or a place like Nostr
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @aoeu OP 1 Sep 2023
Welcome! The ability to login anonymously and quickly without needing a username or email is awesome. I visit hacker news too but like the bitcoin focus here. They try to cut down on spam by costing sats to post or reply. Higher quality content should get pushed to the top.
They are tweaking a rewards system where a portion of the sats spent here get distributed back to the users.
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66 sats \ 4 replies \ @Hypnagog 1 Sep 2023
Someome obviously posted in those forums to come here and post to raise awareness.
For the (no doubt) many like me who have no idea what this website/service is, could you please post a description of the service? Why is it better than brave search on the privacy front?
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0 sats \ 3 replies \ @aoeu OP 1 Sep 2023
I've tried Brave as well but feel that paying for Kagi is better for me. The quality of the search results and the frequent updates are what did it for me. They have a good privacy policy, but you do have to trust that they are doing what they say.
You can read more about Kagi on their documentation page, which goes into more details about their privacy and security. https://help.kagi.com/kagi/why-kagi/why-pay-for-search.html
Now that you can pay via bitcoin, you can just create a fake or masked email address and not have anything even tied to your name. I personally don't really like how Brave has tokenized their browser. Seems unneeded to me. I was experimenting with all the private search engines including Brave Search and self-hosted searx and came away liking the Kagi results and customizability the best. They also are working on some AI search stuff too.
https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/kagi-ai.html
https://labs.kagi.com/fastgpt
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Hypnagog 1 Sep 2023
Okay I like the idea of independent search options, am pretty happy with brave search ... What's the philosophy on censorship?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @aoeu OP 1 Sep 2023
Also, there are no advertisements. Not even keyword targeted ads. I'm of the mindset that if something is free then I am somehow the product. Someone is using my information, even if de-identified to sell to someone else.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @aoeu OP 1 Sep 2023
Looks like they allow you to personalize search results and try to avoid censorship and bias (per their page here: https://help.kagi.com/kagi/search-details/search-quality.html#avoiding-censorship-and-bias). They have a 100 search trial. BTW, I have no affiliation with Kagi outside of being a user of it. I do want them to succeed though because I would hate to no longer be able to use them.
They will not go the route of Neeva by taking sponsorship and promoting various VPNs and/or password managers. I was with Neeva before this (largely because of the former Googlers who started it).
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31 sats \ 0 replies \ @mudbloodvonfrei 1 Sep 2023
I've been considering trying them out for a while. Accepting bitcoin is a major point in favor.
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31 sats \ 0 replies \ @handsome_latino 1 Sep 2023
This is awesome. I was in the hunt for a new search engine and so far I'm liking what I'm seeing. Thanks for the tip.
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21 sats \ 2 replies \ @stackernews_9inky 1 Sep 2023
Best search engine ever! Well worth it.
Originally coke from using ddg for years, then switched to Neeva, and a bit with Brave.
Now an extremely happy customer with Kagi, so happy they accept Bitcoin.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @aoeu OP 1 Sep 2023
I came from Neeva too. I had actually signed up for the trial of Kagi around the same time but for some reason (at that time) liked how Neeva displayed the search results better than Kagi. I'm 100% switched over to Kagi now too.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @stackernews_9inky 1 Sep 2023
Same. Kagi is superior 👍
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @sandagoriate 1 Sep 2023
It's an interesting project. I don't know if would "pay for search" but Is always good to have options.
I like Presearch as well. They work as nodes you get PRE token when use it. You will not be rich but it's another way to do this. Like I said is always good to have options.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @aoeu OP 1 Sep 2023
I hadn't heard of Presearch before but the idea of decentralized nodes is kind of cool. It would be even better if the nodes also functioned as part of a distributed website server (like on IPFS) so that if the presearch.com website goes down then the entire thing would still function. Do you know if something like that is in the works?
I still am not a fan of the ads on Presearch. Also, what is the benefit of the PRE token? Why not just use BTC on Lightning like Stacker News does it? Also, thanks for not linking a referral URL. Most places where I see Presearch popping up now include affiliate links too.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @sandagoriate 2 Sep 2023
This is is the institutional page: https://www.presearch.io/
They started as a company but is in roadmap to became community project.
If you sign up from this link you can get some PRE tokens (ETH token) together with me: https://presearch.com/signup?rid=116568
They are not perfect but is the best search provider in my opinion until now. I don't see bias in the search.
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