And I actually wouldn't have a problem with using google for searches if it weren't for the fact they constantly do the captcha thing when I'm connecting via VPN. Captchas for a simple google search.

I'm not against google making money off of a good product, but they've enshittified it too much to be considered good now.

A lot of people don't bother with changing defaults and corpos like Google, Microsoft, and the likes are well aware of this which is why Google pays Mozilla hundreds of millions of dollars per year to be the default search engine.

I understand the compromise at the surface level but the implications just result in Google gaining more power and data, making it harder for "alternatives" to replace it over time which puts us all in an a bad situation when they decide to pull shit like WEI.