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Alternatives for Google, following recent changes to search setting location - and lobbying?
Thread poster: JaneD
Gregory Flanders
Gregory Flanders  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 08:35
French to English
+ ...
Use other search engines Dec 18, 2017

For what it's worth, I decided a few years ago to move away from Google/Android for privacy concerns, and started using duckduckgo.com as my main search engine. It took me a while to get used to it, but since then I've been very happy with my decision. If I need to use google's engine, I do it through startpage.com, and then only as a last resort do I use google.com.

Something to think about!


boostrer
 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:35
Danish to English
+ ...
Local banks and translation settings Dec 18, 2017

Michael Wetzel wrote:

A normal user wants to go to the nearest branch of their bank and wants to understand what services they offer, etc.


Do we actually have any information on what a "normal" user is doing on Google other than guesswork?

What you’re saying is that most people are just using Google as their local yellow pages, but that was not the original intention with Google, and it has never been the sole intention, so I’m not sure why you use the word “misusing”.

Michael Wetzel wrote:

PS: I have noticed that Google and some other Internet platforms have become very aggressive about automatically translating content. I think they even translated my local newspaper one day and it can be hard to figure out what is triggering this problem and how to get rid of it.



It looks as if you need to adjust your settings. I have configured which languages not to translate. It asks me if I want it to translate other languages in each case.


 
John Fossey
John Fossey  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 03:35
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
What Google is for Dec 18, 2017

We have to remember that Google's main purpose is not to provide information but to sell advertising space. In Google's view, it is much more likely to get advertising revenue by someone clicking on a link to a local merchant than a remote merchant.

 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 08:35
German to English
Thanks for the tip. Dec 18, 2017

Thomas, thanks for the tip. I tend to forget that I'm contantly logged in and that Google is tracking my every move (I am only reminded when they come up with especially entertaining notions about what I'd like to buy). I just searched "change Google settings" and it was incredibly easy to just add some languages. I'll have to see if this changed setting actually helps, but nothing ventured, nothing lost.

My assumption that most translators are doing things with Google that most non
... See more
Thomas, thanks for the tip. I tend to forget that I'm contantly logged in and that Google is tracking my every move (I am only reminded when they come up with especially entertaining notions about what I'd like to buy). I just searched "change Google settings" and it was incredibly easy to just add some languages. I'll have to see if this changed setting actually helps, but nothing ventured, nothing lost.

My assumption that most translators are doing things with Google that most non-translators would consider more or less nonsenscial was pure speculation. It seems intuitively obvious to me, but I'm sure a number of things that seem intuitively obvious to me are actually incorrect, so I should have prefaced my speculation with an "I assume".
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Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 09:35
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
I get German results in Finland Dec 19, 2017

After the change in the setup you must close the browser (I have Chrome), then re-start, and it should work. I get the German Wiki page even if I type a Finnish location name, which is sometimes nerving.

 
Ynes Mouche
Ynes Mouche  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 03:35
English to French
Agree with you but, Dec 19, 2017

Hi Jane,
It is true it becomes complicated for translators and I do think we should write to Google to get more options from their search engine.
I also think you should try other engines like linguee.com, which I think are as comprehensive as Google and are even detailed as most of their translations fall into specific contexts.
Just give a try.


JaneD wrote:

I'm sure others must have been struggling with this too, but I can't find a thread abou
... See more
Hi Jane,
It is true it becomes complicated for translators and I do think we should write to Google to get more options from their search engine.
I also think you should try other engines like linguee.com, which I think are as comprehensive as Google and are even detailed as most of their translations fall into specific contexts.
Just give a try.


JaneD wrote:

I'm sure others must have been struggling with this too, but I can't find a thread about it, so apologies if this has already been discussed somewhere else.

Google has recently introduced new changes to the search results it displays depending on where you are currently located. The idea, according to them, is to improve the relevance of results by showing things in the local language/related to the country you're in.

Sadly, of course, this is exactly the opposite of what most translators want. If I'm searching for the English word for a particular type of trolley used to transport artworks (which is exactly what I'm doing now), I don't want a load of French companies who supply such equipment appearing in the search results just because I happen to be physically in France right now!

There doesn't seem to be any easy way around this, other than using different search engines, none of which are as comprehensive as Google used to be. Even using a VPN doesn't seem to work.

So what I'm wondering is twofold:

a) Has anybody found a satisfactory workround for this, and

b) Are any translator associations wiling to bring up this issue with Google, to lobby them to at least make this an optional setting? Obviously individual translators can't make any difference, but as a group we might have more chance

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Alternatives for Google, following recent changes to search setting location - and lobbying?






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