this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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DeGoogle Yourself
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Its been so hard to stop saying google it but im getting there, they really got us good with their branding brain worm
Pretty sure "to google" means to search for something and get nothing but ads, bad answers, and frustration now. Dunno why anyone would want that.
Or maybe it means "to create a cool product then kill it while it's still popular."
At the same time, Google hates people using their name generically for web searching because it risks them losing the trademark.
So I guess I am conflicted, because I hate to acknowledge Google more than I need to, but would love to see the term become meaningless.
I use DuckDuckGo but say Google for this exact reason. If I'm talking to someone I actually like I usually elaborate to say "Google isn't the search engine I actually use because it's sus, but you know what I mean"
Luckily I find it pretty easy to avoid using brand names and just use the plain old verb.
Search it for me. Look it up. Message me. Send it to me, I'll send this back to you. Set up a call, a meeting, a video call.
"Could you DuckDuckGo that for me?" just doesn't work the same.
"Hey, can you Duck around and find out?"
That really needs to be their next PR campaign.