back to article Scroogle scrapes back to life

Scroogle is back, once again serving up privacy-friendly Google search results, a day after a sudden change to google.com shut down the swashbuckling service. The not-for-profit Scroogle stopped working on Monday, when Mountain View removed the interface page - google.com/ie - where it was scraping search results. Speaking …

COMMENTS

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  1. Wibble

    At least post the URL

    Cheers. Typed in Scroogle.com and got a bloody porn site.

    It's Scroogle.org.

    1. frank ly
      Happy

      Come on, do it right

      You should have used Google to search for Scroogle !

      1. Code Monkey

        Or...

        ...clicked the link in the article

        (confession time: I typed Scroogle.com, too)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You'll never see the BBC News technology section

    talking about Scroogle. They also seem to think that Google Buzz is the hottest shit since sliced bread. Go figure.

    1. janimal

      Agreed

      The BBC gets virtually all of it's news direct from the marketing departments these days, and never do any critical analysis. They seem to have eradicated sceptisism from the entire BBC.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        DIsagreed (partly)

        > "The BBC gets virtually all of it's news direct from the marketing departments these days, and never do any critical analysis. They seem to have eradicated sceptisism from the entire BBC."

        It's still got its Rottweiler.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Stop

      RE: You'll never see the BBC News technology section

      I just searched in google with "site:news.bbc.co.uk google buzz" and these are the top six entries:

      BBC News - Google admits Buzz social network testing flaws

      BBC News - Google Buzz 'breaks privacy laws' says watchdog

      BBC News - Google rolls out privacy reset for Buzz social network

      Google answers privacy questions‎

      BBC News - Google takes on Facebook and Twitter with network site

      BBC News - Google rapped over privacy issues by 10 nations

      So one article out of six that's remotely favourable means thinking it's "the hottest shit since sliced bread"...?

  3. Anomalous Cowturd
    Pint

    Scroogle's back!

    Hurrah! Not their last, I hope...

    Have one on me Daniel.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Google's redesign is a PITA

    It wasn't necessary and has meant I've had to waste time readjusting my Stylish CSS yet again.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      @AC

      You mean to tell me Google change THEIR site's layout without checking in with YOU?!

      /facepalm (my palm, your face! XD)

  5. DZ-Jay

    It's alive!

    ALIIIIIIVE!!!

    http://www.scroogle.org/scraper.html

    Isn't there a web-service API to perform Google searches? and if so, wouldn't that be a more stable mechanism than merely scraping?

    -dZ.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Boffin

      Re: Google API limits?

      It is my understanding that Google's API is tracked on usage, and you are limited to a certain number of "transactions" (calls) daily. For individual usage, it is a freakish amount (25.000?) per day, but a business can hit that surprisingly quickly.

      A proxy of Scroogle's size would hit it within hours.

  6. Code Monkey

    There's a Firefox add-on too

    You can also get an add-on to use it in Firefox's search bar. Which is nice.

  7. Britt Johnston
    Unhappy

    save IE6

    I don't appreciate people messing up a running service just to pile on pressure to remove IE6. This is because I work in a large company, which keeps up on IT trends with a lag time of 5 years. Of course I run the most modern browsers at home, but I need internet access for my job, don't I?

    This gripe applies to El Reg designers as much as to Google's.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Happy

      PortableApps.com

      You can install Firefox to a directory on your computer without admin rights.

      1. Steven Raith
        FAIL

        Portable apps, on a works computer?

        Welcome to the dole queue for gross misconduct - namely circumventing company security policy. Which is exactly how it would be viewed by management (if not by the probably fairly sympathetic IT dept) which they would no doubt explain as security escort you from the building.

        A Very Bad Idea without blessing from above.

        Steven R

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      Agreed

      I'm having a Hell of a time viewing this in 16 colours in IE5 on Windows 3.1. Come on El'Reg, sort it out.

      The purpose of the IT dept is to provide IT services so that non-IT workers can perform their jobs. If you cannot do your job because your browser is out of date, that is your IT depts. failure, not Google's or The Registers.

      Perhaps you should ask them to get with the times. :-)

      Beer for the downtime while IT update your systems.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        Wowzer

        You got IE5 running on Win 3.1! Amazing.

        My IT department has a job for you............................

    3. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      Seconded

      The Ministry of Defence 'Defence Information Infrastructure (Future)' [sic] uses Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 on all its hundreds of thousands of clients. What are the chances that the nice Dr Fox will fund a prompt upgrade for them, eh?

      Anon. Because.

  8. Jerome 0
    Boffin

    Simple results?

    It's hardly rocket science to strip the ads and other cruft from the standard search results page. A regular expression or a bit of Perl could do it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Go

      Nike Own This Phrase

      "A regular expression or a bit of Perl could do it."

      Why dont you just do it?

      the world needs lots of anonymous web search tools, so why not set one up as well? Certainly be good for the next time Scroogle barfs.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Boffin

        RE: Nike Own This Phrase

        > "A regular expression or a bit of Perl could do it."

        > Why dont you just do it?

        Just use www.google.com/m/

        Easy.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Go

          http://startpage.com/

          It's more than just "a bit of Perl", but someone has done it ...

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    Scroogle as default search in IE

    ...and Scroogle can be set as default search provider in IE. And that's with SSL, too! Usefull for us corporate minions stuck with company standards.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    "Scroogle exists so that web users can search Google without the company tracking their behavior"

    What's the point? If you don't want the evil bastards to track your behaviour, don't use Google.

    Plenty of other alternatives which work perfectly well.

    1. Tom Maddox Silver badge
      FAIL

      Wossat, then?

      Care to list which alternatives "work perfectly well"?

      1. K T
        Black Helicopters

        Alternatives

        I don't mean to steal AC's right to reply here, but seeing as I've got nothing better to do... Two privacy-respecting search engines I use (apart from Scroogle) are yauba.com and ixquick.com . Very handy as Scroogle doesn't have an image search, and I for one don't want Google logging my image searches (those searches for "1/16 scale model tank porn" are sure to be used against me someday).

  11. justkyle
    Badgers

    bah, you kids...

    I still remember the days when you had to use Archie or Veronica to search the internet...

  12. Raz

    I forgot my title at home

    Great news, I was forced to use Bing yesterday :) I will not use Google "naked".

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hooray

    Damn, I needed to use yahoo for one just day and that sucks. Google itself scares the hell of me ;-) Long life to scroogle!

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