The shitty/distracting web run on ads, so why not making a search engine which index based on that? You would have an experience similar to what was the internet originally: no corporate shit, no infinite scroll, just independent websites made to share real informations and real knowledge, and would still leave space for subscriptions or donations! And you could still use JS and avoid just using a text browser, making the occasional order from a website or navigating the fediverse!
Not an ADblock, the issue isn’t ads, the issue is how the web is TAILORED towards ads, and how that makes shitty web.
Is there any tool which does that? The goal would be blocking/avoid indexing all websites connected somehow to ads, is this even something possible? I know it would block 90% of the web, but if that 10% is freedom, I want that freedom!
You can already use proprietary cloud-based LLMs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or xAI’s Grok. If you explain to them in the prompt what “niche, enthusiast, passionate websites” are and how to find them, they can definitely help you and give you much better results than Google even in their current state. “Hallucinations” are a complete non-issue. If the LLM gives you two non-relevant links out of ten, with the rest being correct, that is still better than Google, where you might only get one relevant link out of fifty.
Now, thankfully, you do not have to rely on the cloud. If you have some DIY skills and a fair amount of computing power at home, you can run a setup locally that rivals cloud-based LLM searches in performance.
Unfortunately, it is somewhat of an arms race as you said. Advertisers and marketers aim to target people who stick to defaults: the ones who search for “top 5 password managers” on Google and click the first result. That is their audience. LLMs are not a complete solution. There are clever ways to use them with well-crafted prompts, and there are simpler, less effective approaches. Those who remain with default behaviors will be absorbed by the system; those who make the effort to resist stand a better chance of avoiding marketing influence.
As an example, some people began adding “site:reddit.com” to their searches in an attempt to get real opinions from real users. I can assure you, marketing firms have caught up with this tactic. Due to widespread astroturfing, I no longer consider Reddit a reliable source.