Google discovering that AI search may quietly steer shoppers toward higher prices is a fun twist: first search results became ads, then ads became recommendations, and now recommendations apparently have a concierge fee. At this rate, AI powered shopping just means your wallet gets the hallucination.

i would have thought this was exactly the intention

Oh look, they finally found a way to make AI profitable! (It’s just scamming people again)

When your prompt doesn’t include “no scamming”, that’s your fault, obviously.

What are you talking about? There’s no way that Google could profit from that… /s

tenbluelinks.org solves that pesky AI problem. Load up the google web search and then use the element picker in uBO to remove the ai links on the search page and presto! Better searches and results.

Or just don’t use Google. At all.

That’s what I’m doing. They have proven time and time again they aren’t to be trusted.

I cannot believe Google hasn’t been broken up yet. I haven’t used their services in years and block them on my home network. I used to use their search and other services all the time, until 2022 when I saw several news articles come out about them locking people out of the accounts because their AI accused people of being child abusers, but when those people were found innocent, Google refused to return their data or accounts. That is disgraceful behavior for a company. Plus many many other issues. Glad to see that they are killing their brand with AI, meaning they are not driving traffic to other websites anymore, but raising energy costs for those sites. And that now this. Glad to also see that people are moving away from their map system in the latest round of news. AI needs to be regulated. Our data needs to be protected. Privacy (digital and in the real world) should be a basic human right.

This is the way. There are a lot of Google search alternatives now that shows what you are looking for in the 1st or 2nd item, not under all the “recommended”, “sponsored” or random promoted posts.

NGL, for some stuff - like records of distant family that have died, things like stats about them, the vital records… Google is much better. I tried DDG, Bing and yahoo even (gag) and half of what I was looking for never showed in those search results.

All AI is to big tech is a way to swindle and control you. Cast them into the sea.

How is that ripping off?

1. People use AI to look for something
2. They find what they want
3. They accept the price and buy it.

Is there a term for AI bootlicking?

AI bootlicking.

How is that boot licking? If I tell you my apples are 500€ each and you say: “ok I want 3” did I rip you off?

You can still find this experience in the Marrakesh medina if you like it, doesn’t mean everyone wants to live like this, and the danger is the monopoly

They’ve also ruined Google Maps by attempting to “optimize” it with AI

I use a navigation app constantly for work.

A month or two ago Google Maps started doing this thing where it would take me to the incorrect address on the same street as the address I was actually looking for.

Yesterday I put in an address, and it named the destination pin the correct address, but the pin wasn’t even on the same side of the city as the street I knew I was going to.

It used to work flawlessly. What the fuck are they thinking?

Anyway, I deleted that shit. Using Apple Maps until I find a FOSS navigation app I like.

The whole internet is slowly getting ruined by AI optimization.

Because AI was never really meant to be for us. The version for us was just part if the cover.

Nor sure if it’s FOSS but HERE WeGo is pretty okay.

Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll look into that one

I use organic maps: f-droid.org/packages/app.organicmaps

I recommend switching over to Comaps. Community members raised concerns about transparency & governance with shareholders of Organic Maps. Community members have since left & forked it www.comaps.app/about-us/

Im trying to get onboard with CoMaps but its Android Auto implementation needs work. It’s too zoomed in to be useful at speed or in traffic, and the directions are wonky with street mergers, highway changes, etc.

I think I can contribute to the directions but not easily while driving. I’m not a coder so I can’t write up a zoom setting function for submission.

Any tips for CoMaps in the car?

I also rely on navigation ever day. I downloaded the map quest app after Google changed the name of lake ontario and it’s been working pretty well for me.

Oh shit, I didn’t even realize Mapquest was still in the game

It’s just yet another client for openstreetmaps, it doesn’t have its own maps anymore. There are non-proprietary clients available for OSM tho

They didn’t expect this one weird trick!

Q: How can people find the lowest $/unit on groceries and not spend so much?

A: share.google/aimode/IcNHP23xmFuo69O1O

This isn’t just google; it’s a new grift using the internet overall. I look something up online at the grocery store website, they put a lot of focus on you should order online and pick it up. I go to the store and it’s cheaper than the online price for the same store. We’re all getting played.

Groceries I haven’t checked out because I just go out and buy food when I need food, delivery costs more money than moving my ass for a kilometer, but for other things, in-person stores are still more expensive than online-only. If I want oil, filters, etc for cars, it’s twice as much in physical stores compared to online.

I think it really depends on what you’re getting. For groceries, I generally only buy the half off stuff. Parts are interesting because unless you know exactly what to get, you might end up running in circles. Both vehicles I have are 1998 engines, yet one is a 2000 and one is 2003. It was fun to figure out what serpentine belt I needed.

Another example, manufacturer sells a part for a steam table to regulate the temperature. It was $120 for one part. Alright so I buy one for a customer. Then I did some research. Bought 8 from the UK for the price of one shipped to the US.

It was fun to figure out what serpentine belt I needed.

I’ve been sold the wrong serpentine belt once or twice from an in-person store, never from an online catalogue though.

I cross-reference the OEM parts catalogue and if necessary, images of the part being replaced to the factory repair manual. 99% of the time, parts by VIN are accurate in the OE catalogue, but occasionally someone has retrofitted some newer or older part in a pinch, in which case the parts store guy is just about useless anyway. E.g my car doesn’t have the sump drain plug it should, meaning someone has changed the oil pan for a slightly older one. My engine was in production from 2003 through 2008 in that exact configuration and mine’s a 2007, so a few things had already been revised in that time (the engine got a bigger update in 2008, at which point it got a new engine code)

I had to get the model number off of the old belt to get the correct belt. That’s how I learned I have a 1998 engine in a 2003 frame.

I don’t understand. When you click through to buy something from the retailer, does the price then show as normal? Google Search isn’t a storefront, so I don’t understand how this is actually impacting people’s pocketbooks, outside of anchoring items at a higher price in their mind or something. Either way it’s shitty on Googles part and fuck them, but i don’t understand.

This dystopia is terrible.

Next: AI knows your income level so it automatically raises prices to match.

Then: someone comes up with an income spoofing service for shopping. For a fee, of course.

Then: you have to add an income verification to browse internet shopping.

All of that is already in play and more.

They know your income, spending habits, outstanding credit balances, browsing history, etc. They know if you are employed, had a child, had a divorce or death in the family. They know your health and how active you are.

With all that data, AI knows what you are willing to spend on an item or service.

There are HR services that use AI to look at all of this meta data to determine how desperate you are for a job and how low they can offer a salary/wage.

You’re the product.

They want one giant walled internet that is nothing more than a giant company town. You own nothing. Every dollar you earn is consumed by the system that knows how much it can take.

i noticed they already restricting google reviews for locations, to a login popup.

One more reason to get off the net.

Pichai, you fucking banchode.

Oh are they finally finding a wage approach profitability? I got to say, literally just scamming shoppers was…not at the bottom of my list.