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not sure about rest of Europe, but when I search for product I go to local price comparison website, which is much more popular than Amazon, since by my experience pretty much everything on Amazon is more expensive than in plenty of local shops, other option would be I guess Aliexpress if it's not rushing and doesn't have to be some specific brand

article seem to be as usual very US-centric, Google is huge in Europe, Amazon not so much. in China Google doesn't exist and Amazon has also only leftovers

can't say I would miss either of them, since pretty much only useful products from Google for me are search (easily replacable) and Photos (not that easy, but there are alternatives)

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I avoid amazon search like the plague. All that ever pops up when I search for a product is cheap chinese knockoffs with round numbers of mysterious, broken english, 5 star reviews and one pixelated photo. Google, specialist sites or local places are where I'll always go for product search.

I'm not sure what country you're in, but in the U.S. I've virtually never had that experience on Amazon. Sure, there are some lower quality products mixed in with the good stuff, but I always find it pretty easy to tell which is which. And, that being the case, I find that added degree of price/quality diversity to be a benefit in itself.

Edit: By the way, are we still talking about "cheap Chinese knockoffs"? Seems odd to include "Chinese" in that phrase when much of the high quality stuff is made there as well!

YMMV. I've been noticing that it's harder to find the actual thing I'm looking for when cheap knock offs are prevalent. My most recent search was for a specific brand of rat trap, but page after page of Amazon search showed products where I was unable to authenticate the product, and reviews suggested that knock offs were being sent to at least some customers. I ended up finding it easier to drive to the local Home Depot than digging through reviews trying to find the right seller to buy from.

Also a common Amazon profit maximizing trick (aka scam) is to sell a legitimate product, build up 5 star reviews then switch to a cheaper knock off and let the momentum take you as long as it can. Rinse and Repeat. Before I buy anything of consequence I sort reviews by date, and look for this pattern to save me headaches.

Try any search for a phone accessory like "mobile phone vr headset" or "usb battery pack".

Well, I see some products listed that I would not want to buy. But I also see the Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream, and some USB battery packs that seem perfectly good. (In fact, I bought one of these results just the other week, and am very happy with it.) And generally, speaking, the star ratings are about what I would expect of most of these products, given my (modest) knowledge of these brands. Certainly the star ratings, generally speaking, appear to convey useful quality information.

But what I certainly don't see is any support for the claim that "All that ever pops up when I search for a product is cheap chinese knockoffs with round numbers of mysterious, broken english, 5 star reviews and one pixelated photo."

> search (easily replacable)

Search is a complete free market, and there are other competitors in the space. User switching costs are nearly zero, since choosing a different search engine is as easy as typing a URL. Yet, Google persists in adding the most value to user searches and dominates the space.

I'm not sure how easily Google Search will be dethroned.

I think the parent is wrong in "easily replaceable" but I think it will be replaced soon. For $5 I would pay for a private customizable search engine, someone will build it

You understand that Google has invested literally billions in search...

Correct. I think Google will be replaced but due to their investment it won't be easy.