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In the official Code of Conduct, which has been copied to every other community, Google is mentioned by name.

People with an IT affinity often use alternative search engines because they not agree with the surveillance capitalism, censorship and advertising, of Google.

Can this sentence be formulated independently of the manufacturer?

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    It's written that way because people write that exact line all the time in comments.
    – Robert Longson
    Jul 26, 2022 at 16:13
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    "To google" is a verb meaning "to use a search engine to look things up on the web", so the word itself is fine. It probably shouldn't be capitalized though.
    – cigien
    Jul 26, 2022 at 16:13
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    @cigien: Merriam Webster has: to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (someone or something) on the World Wide Web.
    – Justin
    Jul 26, 2022 at 16:18
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    @Justin Hmm, interesting. I've been using the term "to google" for years, but have been using DDG as the search engine primarily for some time now. Maybe the term is not actually used in the generic sense. FreeDictionary says "To search for information online via a search engine, typically Google." idioms.thefreedictionary.com/To+google
    – cigien
    Jul 26, 2022 at 16:26
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    Well, keep in mind you are mentioning a company "controversial" in another company also "controversial". No one has completely clean hands in this globalization.
    – Danielillo
    Jul 26, 2022 at 16:26
  • @cigien: Yeah, the definitions vary across dictionaries; some imply that it can be applied to other search engines as well, while some dictionaries specifically refer to the term as the use of the Google search engine to find information (Lexico, Cambridge, etc.).
    – Justin
    Jul 26, 2022 at 16:36
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    @Justin I'm googling (:p) this, and it looks like Google objected to it being used generically, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3006486.stm and there's court cases and stuff law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-15809/… All good then, I'll continue using it like I have been. Google can sue me if they don't like it, they have my contact info I'm sure ;)
    – cigien
    Jul 26, 2022 at 16:41
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    – Why does the "Code of Conduct" mention a very controversial company (Google) by name? – Because SE is not an ONG or a governmental site, not even a democracy, is a private company.
    – Danielillo
    Jul 26, 2022 at 20:53
  • Because of the strong feelings that occasionally arise when mentioning a specific search engine, I generally "ask the bingleduck" instead of "[Gg]oogling".
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Jul 27, 2022 at 10:15
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    They misspelled the verb "google". Even if it is an example, why would they misspell it? It just distracts from the message.
    – This_is_NOT_a_forum
    Jul 30, 2022 at 19:22

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It's gotten genericized - I've never heard anyone talk about "binging" a search result (and I don't know what's the equivalent for DuckDuckGo).

It's there because people literally say this. We even were asked to block lmgfy because it was an issue (I'm half certain it's in a naughty list, but I'm not sure).

If nothing else, it's an example of being condescending, and would be the same with any other search engine.

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    Google with a capital G is a noun. The verb form shouldn't be capitalized, i.e. "You could try googling it, but half the people on the Internet are wrong." If "Google" wasn't capitalized, there's a good chance no-one would have complained because its generic nature would have been obvious. Yes, capitalization and punctuation DO matter :)
    – ColleenV
    Jul 26, 2022 at 19:24
  • The equivalent would of course be DuckDuckGoing
    – Ramhound
    Jul 27, 2022 at 2:21
  • @Ramhound Folks would probably shorten that to "Ducking" :)
    – DavidPostill
    Jul 27, 2022 at 7:16
  • There is a joke around that word…
    – Ramhound
    Jul 27, 2022 at 11:50
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    Well, binging is already taken for other meanings. :D
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Jul 28, 2022 at 6:48
  • "binging" a search result is often used when making fun of Microsoft's offering, for example, on the .NET Rocks podcast.
    – This_is_NOT_a_forum
    Jul 30, 2022 at 20:06

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