Just started getting this now. Hopefully it’s some A/B testing that they’ll stop doing, but I’m not holding my breath
Google now requires JavaScript
Submitted 1 month ago by m_f@midwest.social to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
https://midwest.social/pictrs/image/45fbdca9-f94b-4b31-b73c-fbe768233f83.png
Comments
moon@lemmy.cafe 1 month ago
csm10495@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I know this may come off as a surprise: but I imagine that requiring JS in 2024 isn’t a big deal to most people.
Now of course Lemmy skews more into that small crowd.
I don’t blame any website for requiring JS for full functionality in 2024.
SomethingBurger@jlai.lu 1 month ago
Google is a text input and a list of links. It should work without JS.
filcuk@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
It’s far more than that. Even on a basic search page. Ever expanded the ‘Peaplo also ask’ section, for example? It loads more results based on your scroll position or interaction.
There’s loads of little things like this, you may just not notice or care about it - which is another discussion.
PresidentCamacho@lemm.ee 1 month ago
All of the people replying to this saying you shouldn’t need JS are totally unaware how modern web development works.
Yes, you could do many sites without JS, but the entire workforce for web development is trained with JS framework. To do otherwise would slow development time down significantly, not allow for certain functionality to exist (functionality you would 100% be unhappy was missing).
Its not a question of possibility, its a question of feasibility.
SSJMarx@lemm.ee 1 month ago
My question is if it wasn’t required before and is required now, what changed? It’s not like Google has added a killer feature recently - this is almost certainly related to those shitty AI answers that are forcing your actual search results even further down the page than they were already.
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 1 month ago
I wish JS would die and we get nice and simple websites back. I hate web dev so god damn much. The internet is pure enshittification
ClassifiedPancake@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
I’m a React dev. You can create server side websites, written in JS, that don’t require JS to be turned on in the browser. Granted, this just became a new official feature in React but has already been available with React frameworks like NextJS
Flipper@feddit.org 1 month ago
For full functionality sure. For basic functionality no. Searching on Google is basic functionality I’d say.
unrelatedkeg@lemmy.sdf.org 1 month ago
Not really. Showing ads and gobbling up data is Google Search’s core functionality, and JS is indispensible for that.
stoly@lemmy.world 1 month ago
You should still be able to use something like Lynx to browse and search. There’s no reason to block basic functionality except that you can and don’t care.
potentiallynotfelix@lemmy.fish 1 month ago
I agree that it’s not a big deal, but there still should be an option in my opinion. It can be a lifesaver to be able to search on older devices.
superkret@feddit.org 1 month ago
DuckDuckGo doesn’t ;)
abbadon420@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Sundar Pichai is the admin for that community, didn’t you know?
Mwa@lemm.ee 1 month ago
i use startpage ;)
wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 1 month ago
You’re stillusing Google search?
m_f@midwest.social 1 month ago
Sometimes, yeah. My default is DDG, and I also use Kagi, but Google is still good at some stuff. Guess I’ll take the hit and just stop using it completely though. Kagi has been good enough, and also lets me search the fediverse for finding that dank meme I saw last week. Google used to be able to do that, but can’t shove as many ads in those queries I assume, so they dropped that ability.
PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Use the bangs in DDG, eg !g asks DDG to search google
Psycoder@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I don’t think I used Google it the last 5-6 years. It’s duck duck go all the way.
DontMakeMoreBabies@lemm.ee 1 month ago
I love that society is basically stratifying into groups based on tech knowledge - it all seems very Cyberpunk.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 1 month ago
As someone with technical knowledge sometimes I get locked out of things because I block ads or refuse Javascript. For instance, I had to turn off my pihole so I could sign into my Microsoft account to play Minecraft. Or the times I encounter a website that breaks on Firefox.
kalpol@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The Microsoft Minecraft login thing is getting pretty insane.
turtletracks@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
If you’re getting locked out of those things, those things are not worth using
bad_alloc@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
The more technology pervades society the more pronounced this will get. The sheer helplessness of people when faced with problems that seem trivial to some is scary. Especially when you see people losing final theses or critical work related data because they never learned about backups.
Add to that tech companies trying to hide the concept of a file system, and it seems like this is by design to sell more shit.
2deck@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah, obscuring and abstracting away the atomic units of the system is a classic.
On the other hand self-education has never been easier, and there are open source alternatives of pretty much everything.
Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Who still uses Google? DDG has been way better for a long while now. Join the duck side.
FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
searxng? Anyone?
unrushed233@lemmings.world 1 month ago
Hell yeah
celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
The vast majority of humanity still uses Google. DDG is basically unheard of outside of tech enthusiast circles.
jbk@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
…and who also has JS off? That seems like a weird combination.
moon@lemmy.cafe 1 month ago
I agree, but if you want js off while web browsing, you’re already in that advanced tech circle and are a part of that demographic.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Its gaining ground very quickly
WolvenSpectre@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
Uses Bing results.
Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 1 month ago
So that’s why it’s so good at finding porn.
____@infosec.pub 1 month ago
Configurable, though, to use many other engines and results.
Lots of overlap, but there are a couple other indexes out there.
cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Kagi is also good. Better imo really
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
It really isn’t
Giving up your payment information is not great for privacy
baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Love how you’re getting downvoted for suggesting a great search engine which does t require JavaScript. Stay classy, everyone.
cRazi_man@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Brave search 🤙
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
It isn’t half bad
z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
Yep. I use Noscript and DDG Lite by default. Just putting into duckduckgo: !g <your search goes here> will search google without having to turn JS on…looks like Duckduckgo wins again, even when it comes to using google, lol.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
So like !g <squirrels holding nuts> and I’ll get googled?
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 1 month ago
skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl 1 month ago
[deleted]rtxn@lemmy.world 1 month ago
<form method="GET" action="https://duckduckgo.com/"> <input name="q" type="text"/> <button type="submit">Go</button> </form>
This is a fully functional search bar. This is all it needs to be. It doesn’t need Javascript, only if you want suggestions.
x00za@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
They don’t need javascript to serve their website, and their website hasn’t really been updated all that much. So there wasn’t really any reason to stop supporting it.
This change is very likely meant to be against privacy respecting users.
zer0bitz@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Just use SearXNG.
911@lemmynsfw.com 1 month ago
Use any of the following:
celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
I might be out of my depth here, but isn’t like virtually the entire internet powered by Javascript? What are the negative implications for Google requiring JS?
m_f@midwest.social 1 month ago
A lot of the web is powered by JS, but much less of it needs to be. Here’s a couple of sites that are part of a trend to not unnecessarily introduce it:
The negative implications for Google requiring JS is that they will use it to track everything possible about you that they can, even down to how you move your cursor, or how much battery you have left on your phone in order to jack up prices, or any other number of shitty things.
Chingzilla@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Htmx does use javascript under the hood, but just makes it so the developer can use html markdown for more a more interactive environment that’s driven sever side. So the initial page load should render, but UI elements might not work as intended.
htmx is more a move back to REST as it was originally defined (aka not json backend).
TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 1 month ago
JS is like a disease where it does not need to be. I would honestly welcome an Internet alternative that was all web 1.0 (with up-to-date security updates and methods). There’s good uses for it in interactive websites that provide cloud services, but most of it is fud and breaks the whole notion of HTTP GET URLs you can just share and cache.
celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Booo! I knew I made the right decision switching to DDG.
ShadowCatEXE@lemmy.world 1 month ago
A large majority of modern web applications are built with Javascript… Both frontend and backend. You do still have a large majority of websites using plain HTML or PHP, with some features requiring JS to function (modals, realtime stats, data input, etc).
You also have alternative languages like Java or C# (and more), but also may use bits of JS on the frontend to drive functionality.
You can bet that the majority of websites you visit nowadays will use some form of JS, unless it’s a static webpage to display basic information.
NutWrench@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I like the SearX search engine. It gives old-school, relevant search results, not google ranked ones.
It’s also spread out over many separate instances, so you can pick the one that best suits your search needs:
courval@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Smells a bit Musky
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It’s open source and can be self-hosted. I use something similar called Whoogle that I run in a local Docker container. Strips ads, javascript, tracking, and amp links
MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Who uses the internet without JavaScript? Must have so many broken websites
OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
I run NoScript, which blocks all JavaScript. I manually allow websites as I need it. It blocks all kinds of annoying nonsense while I browse.
trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
I started disabling JavaScript by default with uBlock Origin a few months ago. I am surprised to report that a bunch of sites work fine without JavaScript.
There are definitely some sites that actually need it, and for those, it’s just one click to permanently allow for that site. But most of the sites I need work better with just CSS and HTML because there are no stupid nags or social media sign-in buttons that pop-up anymore.
Faresh@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
I installed NoScript just a few days ago, because I’m forced to use a really weak computer that struggles to even browse the modern web. I feel like NoScript improved it a lot, and while quite a few websites broke (including lemmy), I just set the ones that I need working to trusted, but the performance is still good (I should note I’m also using it in conjunction with an automatic tab discarter).
I however also don’t directly use Google. Both SearX and Yandex don’t need javascript, so I’m unaffected by these news, despite being a bit mad about it as a reflection of the direction the web is going as a whole.
unrushed233@lemmings.world 1 month ago
daggermoon@lemmy.world 1 month ago
No offense intended, but why are you still using Google? Startpage has anonyomized results from Google. DuckDuckGo is good enough for most people as well. Brave search also exists if you don’t mind supporting that shitty company.
ScreaminOctopus@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I’ve been happy with Qwant lately, they have their own index so using them doesn’t support the Google + Bing hegemony. They’re also EU based and regulated by the gdpr.
pyre@lemmy.world 1 month ago
why are you using google in 2024 grandpa
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
There are so many alternatives
adarza@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
lol. nope. not happening. that’s not how to get me to even think about using your search again (having quit over a decade ago).
WolvenSpectre@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
AFAIK Startpage gives you google results with your privacy intact and less ads.
asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Switch to Kagi
Mwa@lemm.ee 1 month ago
they def wanna maximize data collection with javascript
JTskulk@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I just disabled Javascript and Google still works fine. It might be only Google’s mobile site that requires it.
corvuscache@lemmy.world 1 month ago
These are also just fun:
I also use Mojeek when I want a (serious) different set of results that I’m not getting from those pulling from google, bing, etc. It’s not the best but it’s getting better over time.
Rob200@lemmings.world 3 weeks ago
rip lynx browser, unless- alternative search engine?
ruekk@lemm.ee 1 month ago
As a former we’d dev, good. I didn’t get paid enough to care about the people that block JavaScript
bestboyfriendintheworld@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
If you ever need a search engine without JavaScript or https, give frogfind.com a try. Works great on ancient browsers and operating systems.
mlg@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Can’t tell if because of spyware or because the poor intern they hired to maintain the site for the next month only knows JS frontends lol
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 month ago
Oof ouch my Lynx.
perishthethought@lemm.ee 1 month ago
I hate how these kinds of messages never explain WHY. It’s just “Do it. Do what we tell you.” 💀
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 month ago
BOW TO YOUR MASTERS, AND SUCK OUR DICK!!!
I remember 10 years ago looking at a calculator app in the android app store, and seeing the permissions. And thinking “WHY THE FUCK DOES A CALCULATOR NEED MY LOCATION, AND ACCESS TO MY PHONE CONTACTS???”
Fuck THAT.
FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 1 month ago
What dick? pretty sure it’s fallen off from all the STD’s.
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
I found out yesterday the Samsung camera app will not function without “Nearby Devices” permissions. Utterly ridiculous.
sleen@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
All those years, and I still have no explanation why some apps want my browsing history.
Kyouki@lemmy.world 1 month ago
For ads, tracking and spying of course.
tomi000@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Probably because 99.999% of users already use JS and dedicating a web page to it is already more work than they needed to put into it
fuck_u_spez_in_particular@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I think it’s just to avoid explaining why, and how they harvest your data. That said, I also hate how a lot of errors of the big corpo are just like “This site has an error” no error-code, no further feedback what to do etc.
stratoscaster@lemmy.world 1 month ago
No no it’s more interesting if it’s for evil corporate reasons! Lmao
LodeMike@lemmy.today 1 month ago
Because they dont need to
Hyperlon@lemmy.world 1 month ago
A lot of websites are react which doesn’t function without JavaScript. It’s a more powerful tool for web dev and can be a better experience for the user if used right.
perishthethought@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Great. If that was their reason, they could explain that. But they didn’t and that’s my beef.
But since you seem to be tech savvy, you also already know why they don’t explain which great features of react they want to use on this page. And we all already know it’s not for the user’s benefit. It’s for money they receive from data mining every minute of our lives.
Artyom@lemm.ee 1 month ago
Because if they typed out an honest reason why, you would avoid them like the plague.