• cabbage@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    16 hours ago

    Yeah, this is not the case as they run on a subscription based model.

    I used Kagi for a while. I stopped because it’s prohibitively expensive, and rather than prioritizing lowering prices they kept giving me AI features I did not want at all - hell, it’s the kind of shit I was paying to get away from. Mix direct support for Russian companies into the mix, and you have an expensive AI fueled multi-purpose web monstrosity that supports war crimes. No thanks. I just wanted a search engine.

    Their search results were good though. I wouldn’t mind supporting a subscription based model, but I’m sick and tired of tech bros and their bullshit.

    • cecilkorik@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      16 hours ago

      Why would you conclude that a subscription based model makes them immune from corrupt financial incentives? Quite the opposite. That’s my whole point.

      • lepinkainen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        11 hours ago

        “If you’re not paying, you are the product”

        Nobody offers services for free, the money has to come from somewhere

      • cabbage@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        13 hours ago

        Well, yeah, they’re run by a corporation, which I guess means they need to show infinite growth to return value to stockholders. If so they can keep growing on subscriptions for a while, but eventually they’ll turn on their customers. So fair enough.

        I think that’s part of my problem with them honestly. They seem to always want to grow and do more, but I would rather have seen them focus on search and make the subscription more affordable. But as they need growth I guess that’s not possible.