4 ms·

This url has been posted before of course, but every 6 months or so I wonder how DDG's traffic is doing. So far I've always been pleasantly surprised. I do won

This url has been posted before of course, but every 6 months or so I wonder how DDG's traffic is doing. So far I've always been pleasantly surprised. I do wonder if there will be a tipping point where DDG grows like crazy and actually becomes the 2nd largest search engine mainly because it actually differs from google unlike bing.

lettergram 11y ago
I use it for my searches pretty regularly, I don't feel like i've lost anything, if anything the anonymous searches are more generalized. This lets me get out of my comfort zone sometimes.
Freak_NL 11y ago
Having an alternative to the might of Google is something I value greatly. I am glad DuckDuckGo is getting more popular. I have noticed that Google has gotten more and more localized in the search results returned, whereas DuckDuckGo doesn't care where I live or who I am; I prefer the latter.
- NathanKP 11y ago
  What I've noticed is that Google is trying to be too smart. Their search result quality went down big time about a month ago and I noticed that for many queries they were dropping some of the query words I had entered so that they could give me "more results", but the results they gave me ended up being terrible.
  - ams6110 11y ago
    Agree. Also it seems to me that +term and -term don't really have any effect anymore, you just get whatever results Google thinks you are looking for.
    - click170 11y ago
      When that stopped working is when I went with DDG full time for my searching needs at home and at work. And I don't yet regret it either.
    - kevinh 11y ago
      +term hasn't worked since Google rolled out Google+. The only method that works is to surround it in quotes now, like "term".
  - girvo 11y ago
    I've seen the same thing! I wondered if that was just me.
  - daveguy 11y ago
    This. I feel they are "smartening" their results with machine learning and crowding in ML ads and crowding out appropriate results. It feels more and more like Alta Vista before Google ate their lunch. Their ML isn't people-smart yet so those generated results often seem odd (or blatently ad-driven). They may get more and more clicks on ads (and keep optimising for that). However, there will be a tipping point where the part they can't measure -- annoyance at the results -- turns into people jumping ship. DDG's exponential growth will continue through that and Google will be forced to take notice. I don't know whether that means blocking !g or abandoning some of the smarts on Google results (if possible by that point) or both. Also, as a side note, I am tired of yelling "ok Google" multiple times at my phone before I get a response.
  - exclusiv 11y ago
    I agree. I routinely have to use the date filter because they favor older content too much.
- wodenokoto 11y ago
  A lot of people on Hn like to say this,but I wonder what kind of bubble they live in where gaining knowledge about the physical world that immediately surrounds then isnt important or useful. No benefit in finding shops or restaurants? Roads, museums? When searching for a place getting info on one in India, Britain or America is just the same?
  - marcosdumay 11y ago
    > where gaining knowledge about the physical world that immediately surrounds then isnt important or useful. It's not only not important or useful - it's actively harmful, in 'that confusing information leads to worse decisions' way. I get deeply annoyed every time Google translates my searches in foreign languages, or gives me only local stories when I want to buy something overseas (and even replaces my search when the product isn't available locally). Yes, some times I want to look some local stuff - funny thing is that text search has always the worst results for this case. There are plenty of geographical search engines available (even from Google) that will give you much more information in a glance than the main Google results will give after analysis. Anyway, DDG has localized search too. You just have to click on a knob.
- kyledrake 11y ago
  Personally I wouldn't mind if they localized results to a city I was in, since the general location of IP addresses is something that's pretty well known anyways. I use DuckDuckGo as my default search engine. I like it.
- paulddraper 11y ago
  I disagree. When I search "Cinemark movies", I don't want to find out what's playing in Maine.
  - Freak_NL 11y ago
    I just visit the website of the local cinema, but I see your point. I wouldn't mind actively opting for some sort of local search whenever localized information is exactly what I want, but with Google I seem to have no choice in the matter.

lettergram 11y ago

I use it for my searches pretty regularly, I don't feel like i've lost anything, if anything the anonymous searches are more generalized. This lets me get out of my comfort zone sometimes.

Freak_NL 11y ago

Having an alternative to the might of Google is something I value greatly. I am glad DuckDuckGo is getting more popular. I have noticed that Google has gotten more and more localized in the search results returned, whereas DuckDuckGo doesn't care where I live or who I am; I prefer the latter.

NathanKP 11y ago
What I've noticed is that Google is trying to be too smart. Their search result quality went down big time about a month ago and I noticed that for many queries they were dropping some of the query words I had entered so that they could give me "more results", but the results they gave me ended up being terrible.
- ams6110 11y ago
  Agree. Also it seems to me that +term and -term don't really have any effect anymore, you just get whatever results Google thinks you are looking for.
  - click170 11y ago
    When that stopped working is when I went with DDG full time for my searching needs at home and at work. And I don't yet regret it either.
  - kevinh 11y ago
    +term hasn't worked since Google rolled out Google+. The only method that works is to surround it in quotes now, like "term".
- girvo 11y ago
  I've seen the same thing! I wondered if that was just me.
- daveguy 11y ago
  This. I feel they are "smartening" their results with machine learning and crowding in ML ads and crowding out appropriate results. It feels more and more like Alta Vista before Google ate their lunch. Their ML isn't people-smart yet so those generated results often seem odd (or blatently ad-driven). They may get more and more clicks on ads (and keep optimising for that). However, there will be a tipping point where the part they can't measure -- annoyance at the results -- turns into people jumping ship. DDG's exponential growth will continue through that and Google will be forced to take notice. I don't know whether that means blocking !g or abandoning some of the smarts on Google results (if possible by that point) or both. Also, as a side note, I am tired of yelling "ok Google" multiple times at my phone before I get a response.
- exclusiv 11y ago
  I agree. I routinely have to use the date filter because they favor older content too much.
wodenokoto 11y ago
A lot of people on Hn like to say this,but I wonder what kind of bubble they live in where gaining knowledge about the physical world that immediately surrounds then isnt important or useful. No benefit in finding shops or restaurants? Roads, museums? When searching for a place getting info on one in India, Britain or America is just the same?
- marcosdumay 11y ago
  > where gaining knowledge about the physical world that immediately surrounds then isnt important or useful. It's not only not important or useful - it's actively harmful, in 'that confusing information leads to worse decisions' way. I get deeply annoyed every time Google translates my searches in foreign languages, or gives me only local stories when I want to buy something overseas (and even replaces my search when the product isn't available locally). Yes, some times I want to look some local stuff - funny thing is that text search has always the worst results for this case. There are plenty of geographical search engines available (even from Google) that will give you much more information in a glance than the main Google results will give after analysis. Anyway, DDG has localized search too. You just have to click on a knob.
kyledrake 11y ago
Personally I wouldn't mind if they localized results to a city I was in, since the general location of IP addresses is something that's pretty well known anyways. I use DuckDuckGo as my default search engine. I like it.
paulddraper 11y ago
I disagree. When I search "Cinemark movies", I don't want to find out what's playing in Maine.
- Freak_NL 11y ago
  I just visit the website of the local cinema, but I see your point. I wouldn't mind actively opting for some sort of local search whenever localized information is exactly what I want, but with Google I seem to have no choice in the matter.