3 ms·

I think they'd be interested if the results were half as good as Googles. As an experiment the last 6 months or so I've been using DDG at work and Google at hom

I think they'd be interested if the results were half as good as Googles. As an experiment the last 6 months or so I've been using DDG at work and Google at home. The difference in quality is very noticeable—Google still is the best search engine.

JBReefer 9y ago
Do you use the bang system in DDG? I think that more than makes up the difference.
- Sargos 9y ago
  If you have to remember to use arbitrary bangs to get specific results then DDG has already failed as a search engine. Coding a query yourself is obviously the most powerful way to search documents, but the key to useful software is to do the hard work for you.
  - stephenr 9y ago
    Bangs dont 'get specific results' - they're shortcuts to let you do site-specific 'searches', on that site. So, if I want to check the versions of haproxy in the various Debian suites, then `!dpkg haproxy` would take me to https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=haproxy https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=haproxy. If I just want general results about HAproxy, that isn't what a bang is for.
- 27182818284 9y ago
  I do, but doing !g or !fl seems to defeat the purpose.
notzorbo3 9y ago
Use startpage.com. I've tried DDG a few times over the last years. The results where reasonable when it was still using Google as a backend. Since it's switched to something else (Bing?) it's horrible. startpage.com gives me anonymized results from google.
danjoc 9y ago
As a counter anecdote, I've been using DDG for the last three years, at least. I really haven't missed Google at all for search. The only Google thing I can't find a replacement for is Maps.
- hobarrera 9y ago
  I've been using Here Maps (from Nokia) pretty happily for years. It's worth checking out (oh, even though it's a Nokia thing, there's an iOS app).
yvesmh 9y ago
I've been using DDG for trivial queries, I tried using it for more complex ones but the results were very poor. Since DDG is my default all I have to do is add a g! at the end to get Google results.
r00fus 9y ago
Amusingly I do somewhat the opposite. DDG is fine for mobile searches, but I require better results for work lookups. I use DDG for home laptop, but often use g! prefix for things like flight data or image searches.
stephenr 9y ago
> Google still is the best search engine Define "best"? By what metric? Given that we know Google use your own search history to influence current search result rankings, there is a bubble effect. I don't consider that to be a good thing. Their privacy policy and general business model (give away services for 'free' and data-mine the living bejesus out of user content to make creepy stalker-level profiles of them, for the purposes of showing adverts) are very much at odds with what I want from a search engine, or any business really. I've yet to see anyone do a comparison of Google with browser settings such that they can't use previous search history to influence results, vs other search engines which don't rely on history for relevance anyway. For me, DDG is good enough that I use it all the time on all my devices. I use !bangs, but the only google-related Bang I've used at all recently is !tr (Google Translate).
Froyoh 9y ago
It's hard to have personalized search results (search bubble) while having a sense of privacy.
hobarrera 9y ago
Amazing. I've had the exact opposite results for years. The only place I've ever seen DDG fails is local results (eg: searching for a nearby restaurant). Then again, I'd expect it to, given they don't know where I am.

JBReefer 9y ago

Do you use the bang system in DDG? I think that more than makes up the difference.

Sargos 9y ago
If you have to remember to use arbitrary bangs to get specific results then DDG has already failed as a search engine. Coding a query yourself is obviously the most powerful way to search documents, but the key to useful software is to do the hard work for you.
- stephenr 9y ago
  Bangs dont 'get specific results' - they're shortcuts to let you do site-specific 'searches', on that site. So, if I want to check the versions of haproxy in the various Debian suites, then `!dpkg haproxy` would take me to https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=haproxy https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=haproxy. If I just want general results about HAproxy, that isn't what a bang is for.
27182818284 9y ago
I do, but doing !g or !fl seems to defeat the purpose.

notzorbo3 9y ago

Use startpage.com. I've tried DDG a few times over the last years. The results where reasonable when it was still using Google as a backend. Since it's switched to something else (Bing?) it's horrible. startpage.com gives me anonymized results from google.

danjoc 9y ago

As a counter anecdote, I've been using DDG for the last three years, at least. I really haven't missed Google at all for search. The only Google thing I can't find a replacement for is Maps.

hobarrera 9y ago
I've been using Here Maps (from Nokia) pretty happily for years. It's worth checking out (oh, even though it's a Nokia thing, there's an iOS app).

yvesmh 9y ago

I've been using DDG for trivial queries, I tried using it for more complex ones but the results were very poor. Since DDG is my default all I have to do is add a g! at the end to get Google results.

r00fus 9y ago

Amusingly I do somewhat the opposite. DDG is fine for mobile searches, but I require better results for work lookups. I use DDG for home laptop, but often use g! prefix for things like flight data or image searches.

stephenr 9y ago

> Google still is the best search engine Define "best"? By what metric? Given that we know Google use your own search history to influence current search result rankings, there is a bubble effect. I don't consider that to be a good thing. Their privacy policy and general business model (give away services for 'free' and data-mine the living bejesus out of user content to make creepy stalker-level profiles of them, for the purposes of showing adverts) are very much at odds with what I want from a search engine, or any business really. I've yet to see anyone do a comparison of Google with browser settings such that they can't use previous search history to influence results, vs other search engines which don't rely on history for relevance anyway. For me, DDG is good enough that I use it all the time on all my devices. I use !bangs, but the only google-related Bang I've used at all recently is !tr (Google Translate).

Froyoh 9y ago

It's hard to have personalized search results (search bubble) while having a sense of privacy.

hobarrera 9y ago

Amazing. I've had the exact opposite results for years. The only place I've ever seen DDG fails is local results (eg: searching for a nearby restaurant). Then again, I'd expect it to, given they don't know where I am.