The Google Empire: Why we need more search engines other than Google

The usage of “network” effect to basically dismiss calls for other search engines or any other institution is a common phrase. The people who use it to say there is something transhistorical about Google and that people should be just accept Google. The thing that Google has is the ability to just control the access to information and also installing their search services on every Android device here. Microsoft got in trouble for the same thing, but now they are basically the underdogs here in the search space with Bing, which is good but is basically unable to gain traction because Google keeps people within their systems. This means that people only see Google and not other competitors.

I use Google’s products as they are not incompetent at making email services such as Gmail. However, they are often used as the only service and the “nerds” or power” users are trying to use other products. For example, think about DuckDuckGo or other search engines such as Bing as I mentioned earlier. However, Bing is the only one that is capable of challenging Google. In the early 2010s, its market share was higher than it is now but it is unable to get beyond a small percentage.

We need more search engine choices.

Why is that we allow people to congregate in the “best”

This best is being propped up with all sorts of trickery and manipulations. The most important thing that can happen now is that we need to break up the app stores of both Google and Apple. This duopoly has allowed for the ossification of many aspects of the internet. It has led to the decline in the quality of desktop sites. Previously, desktop sites had all their charm and qualities. Now it the same throughout and it is not interesting now. Even the corporate sites, the front page of a company’s brand have become little more than portals to their social media sites.

We need competition and while we may have alternatives, we do not currently have competition.

Search engines should be an area of competition and growth and not beholden to only one company. The internet is a space without any limit in space only bandwidth. We should have many choices.

How to search and buy effectively with Amazon Rufus

Amazon Rufus

Introduction: Amazon Rufus, the Shopping AI.

Amazon has generally been a pretty straight forward website. It is a place where you buy things or if you are a seller, sell your items on the Amazon storefront similar to eBay. Unlike many other dotcom businesses in the 1990s, Jeff Bezos had a vision and a sustainable business model. However, this does not mean that Amazon is lying on its laurels and has been continuing to innovate in many areas.

Amazon’s Rufus is named after a dog who was in Amazon’s office in the early days. It’s function is very much like a digital golden retriever: it seeks out information about the items you want to buy on the site.

Rufus is available on desktop as well as the mobile app. On the desktop site, Rufus is located on the upper left side of the screen.

How to search with Amazon Rufus Chatbot.

To start, you need to start typing something into the Amazon search box.

Amazon Search Bar

When you type in something into the Amazon, Rufus will analyze it and it will provide relevant questions.

Amazon Rufus Rings

When you click on the question bubbles, Rufus will provide answers to your questions here. It combines ChatGPT with the Amazon customer review system which helps to create a unique AI.

I chose a Runic Ring to buy, the first result on the page.

Nanafast Viking Rings

When you click on the link to the product page, Amazon has now integrated Rufus into many aspects of the site.

Amazon Rufus AI Specific Info Questions

One of the best aspects of Amazon’s AI integration is that it is holistic. Unlike the older versions of chatbots that would you see before ChatGPT, companies such as Amazon are integrating throughout the site. It is not an annoyance on the side bar; it now greatly enhances your ability to shop on Amazon and save time instead of spending it on the annoying search engine in Amazon.

Amazon’s s Rufus is much better than Google’s AI overview as it curates the Amazon customer review system in order to provide better responses.

Amazon Rufus Queries

Amazon smartly chooses to have Rufus located throughout the page for each product that you click on the site. While it may seem overbearing for some, this approach means that Amazon is not just treating like a feature that is being hidden away on the screen. In many ways, Amazon is the prefect site for such implementation of Shopping chatbots.

Yamibuy-An Upstart marketplace for Asian Groceries

Yamibuy US

While sites such as Temu and Shein get all the attention, there other upstart e-commerce sites. Some like AliExpress, are just getting people’s attention. However, some are literally under the radar, such as the site I am going to talk about, Yamibuy, an ecommerce site devoted to higher quality Asian products.

Yamibuy, an entrance towards Chagee Tea.

The reason why I stumbled upon Yamibuy was because I saw a video about Chagee tea online. This video was on YouTube, and it came up on my recommended feed and I was intrigued as I am a big tea consumer. However, most of my exposure to tea was through an American brand known as Herbal Essences. This is a brand that began in the heady days of the New Age culture of the 1960s era. However, the taste is getting a bit stale now even though its great but I always had an opinion that Chinese tea was better.

Chagee Tea

Chagee Tea is a competitor to Starbucks Coffee in China. Along with Lunkin Coffee, these two giants of modern Chinese culture are challenging the American coffee chain with a uniquely Chinese twist.

Chagee Tea is really my interest here and they have some interesting flavors available for sale. They have Peach Oolong Tea and Ceylon Black Tea among others. While Chagee is focusing on their Milk tea, they also have Pure Teas available to the public.

Some of these Pure Teas are only available Yamibuy.

So I made a choice to create an account on Yamibuy.

Is YamiBuy better than Temu?

In my opinion, YamiBuy is a better store than Temu. Currently, Temu is all about prices not about the quality. YamiBuy is giving people options and that is what makes it better than most other Chinese websites that engage in global ecommerce.

One thing that Yami does better than Temu is that they are so aggressive at advertising. While I understand why Temu in its early days needed to have more aggressive advertising in order to get attention in an already saturated with many competitors.

In comparison, YamiBuy is focused on getting Asian products to Asian Americans.

Temu has been focusing on essentially being a flea market for many types of customers. This has been diluting the brand of Temu and made it more difficult for it to be more than a flea market for many customers.

Building a reputation rather than just selling things is what is important in ecommerce.

What Yami shows a shift in Ecommerce

In the beginning, Ecommerce was dominated by American companies. As time has gone on, it seems that there is going to be more diversification in what companies are available online.

Amazon is going to be the Walmart of the Online store space. There will be a place for sites such Yami.

In my opinion, that makes the internet more interesting and more efficient to use for customers as well as businesses of many shapes and sizes.

Yami is a great site to use

I would recommend using Yami honestly. If you are Asian-American, such a site is must to have if you do not have a H-Mart or other Asian grocery nearby in your area. Managing to stumble upon it has made my ecommerce experience a bit more diverse than just using Amazon Prime for everything.

Considering that Chagee’s Tea was only on there. I would recommend it to get just a hint of the taste of this up-and-coming teahouse in America.