> Who is being paid in this "auction"? What percentage of customers of search know precisely what they are paying? The latter I'm putting at "so close to zero as makes no difference" which makes "price competitive" outcome a little on the absurd side.
Honestly, most of the people I've talked with know about Google's business model. They give answers ranging around here abouts:
* I don't care about privacy; I have nothing to hide.
* DuckDuckGo are probably a honeypot; they gather as much or more information as Google, and lie about it.
* Even if I switch search engine, they'll probably get all my info some other way anyhow, and I don't have the skill or time to try to find everything that could be leaking information.
* Google supplies a better search engine, so it's worth it.
* Using DuckDuckGo as my search engine, when I'm using Android as my OS, seems like a waste of time, and I'm not buying a new phone.
Honestly, most of the people I've talked with know about Google's business model. They give answers ranging around here abouts:
* I don't care about privacy; I have nothing to hide.
* DuckDuckGo are probably a honeypot; they gather as much or more information as Google, and lie about it.
* Even if I switch search engine, they'll probably get all my info some other way anyhow, and I don't have the skill or time to try to find everything that could be leaking information.
* Google supplies a better search engine, so it's worth it.
* Using DuckDuckGo as my search engine, when I'm using Android as my OS, seems like a waste of time, and I'm not buying a new phone.