[pedalpete]

I agree with your sentiment about being the default engine to break people free of google, but do you have evidence that the browser extension is the way to get people to do that?

On the other side, you have a search bar on the page, so I'm not exactly sure what people are complaining about.

[dwohnitmok]

If you open it up in Chrome, then first off the main search bar in the middle of the screen turns into a button to install the extension.

There remains a search bar in the upper left hand corner of the screen, but if you actually search, no search results are given. Instead the result page is replaced by a link to install the Chrome extension. So effectively, as far as I can tell, on a normal Chrome browsing session there is no way to actually use the search functionality without installing the extension.

This does not seem to happen on other browsers or in incognito mode.

[richardsocher]

And now it also doesn't happen in Chrome anymore. We dropped the requirement there too.

[dwohnitmok]

I'm glad to hear it! Time to take it for another spin.

[richardsocher]

It is a 5 second install or uninstall. Tbh, the browser extension is the best method for now but it's clearly not where we want to stay. Even after you install it and make a search from the navbar, Google will encourage you to change it back to Google and make the default button change the setting back.

We hope to eventually be an option in the default search engines list.

Eventually, maybe antitrust will encourage browsers to provide a randomly ordered list of search engines to choose from.

[pedalpete]

I think the mob has spoken Richard. You can't force people to install the extension, and I think devs are both more likely to work with browser extensions, and less likely to install them.

You've clearly put a lot of great work into the tech. I suggest you sit down with a marketing person to help you figure out how to get people using it. NOT HOW TO GET IT IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. Those are two different things. If the best thing your marketing person can come up with is to have a browser extension, get a better marketing person.

Start small and expand. Perhaps your browser extension is your start small. If so, then it just isn't for me, and that's ok. Maybe you've got a plan of how you grow.

As an example, look at DDG. They started small, and grew, and grew, and grew. They didn't need an extension to do it.

Of course you want everyone to use it, and you want everyone to use it today. But that's not the choice.

I sincerely hope you find your 1,000 true fans, and that those fans can lead you to 1,000,000,000x more.

[ohyeshedid]

> It is a 5 second install or uninstall.

I could smoke your os in less time. Time isn't the issue here.

> Tbh, the browser extension is the best method for now

Most of the people here, so far, are directly telling you it's not.

[bloopernova]

Time of install is not the issue. Provide a simple, fast web interface, then people will use it.