4 ms·

I don't really trust DuckDuckGo, but I use their search service because I trust Google less... I still trust Firefox more for a browser although it won't take m

I don't really trust DuckDuckGo, but I use their search service because I trust Google less... I still trust Firefox more for a browser although it won't take much at this point to make me switch.

projomni 6y ago
a paranoid android-:)
- coronadisaster 6y ago
  yeah Android is a lot worst than using Google search
kovac 6y ago
There's Qwant, a search engine. I'm using that. It's not as fast as Bing, but it does the job and seem to be trustworthy.
stan_rogers 6y ago
There's always Startpage. You use Startpage; Startpage uses Google for you, with their own user agent - no history, no tracking.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  How does that work? What does Google have to gain from it? Google has pretty aggressive anti-scraping protections to protect against this exact behavior, so why would they allow Startpage to get away with it? What does Startpage have to gain from it? Unlike DDG, they don't seem to have any core product, so they fully depend on Google's goodwill which is very shaky grounds when it comes to a long-term business.
  - smoe 6y ago
    Startpage.com says they are paying Google: "You can’t beat Google when it comes to online search. So we’re paying them to use their brilliant search results in order to remove all trackers and logs."
  - stan_rogers 6y ago
    They pay Google, and use untargeted ads (that is, not user-targeted) to support the service.
  - sidibe 6y ago
    > Unlike DDG, they don't seem to have any core product, so they fully depend on Google's goodwill which is very shaky grounds when it comes to a long-term business. Isn't that exactly like DDG but Google instead of Bing?
    - Nextgrid 6y ago
      My understanding is that DDG is using Bing results as well as their own. Whether their in-house results can stand on their own is another matter, but at least they're trying to reduce their dependency on Bing, where as Startpage is not.
      - Kiro 6y ago
        No, their own crawler is just used for Instant Answers and other widgets. https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources/ https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/so... > We also of course have more traditional links in the search results, which we also source from multiple partners, though most commonly from Bing (and none from Google). So basically it's all Bing and I see no effort to reduce that dependency as you claim.
  - Kiro 6y ago
    What's DDG core product?
- chris_f 6y ago
  Runnaroo is also a search engine that is Google based (for organic results). IMO it has an advantage over Startpage because of its integration of vertical search sources, like Stack Overflow [0]. I'm the creator. Mojeek [1] is also a good privacy option that doesn't get talked about as much as DDG. They distinguish themselves by having their own search index. [0] https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=python+unit+testing https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=python+unit+testing [1] https://www.mojeek.com/ https://www.mojeek.com/
- moonchild 6y ago
  Startpage was bought by an ad company.
  - notRobot 6y ago
    Indeed: https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/di5rn3/startpage_is_now_owned_by_an_advertising_company/ https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/di5rn3/startpage_i...
bad_user 6y ago
Google is a big target for law enforcement though. The EU for example can't wait to slap them with another huge fine. Go here and turn your "web and app activity", your "location history" and "ad personalisation" off, if they aren't already: https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-personalization https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-personalization If you do that, there's no evidence that Google is more privacy invading than DuckDuckGo, since you're left with taking their word for it. And frankly I trust a big, bureaucratic company more than I trust a startup. The ideal would be to trust technology (e.g. end to end encryption, open source) but that's not the case here. Note that I also use DuckDuckGo in my Private Mode, as Firefox allows setting different search engine for Private Mode. I do that because it's better to compartmentalize your online personas, plus I keep my "web and app activity" in Google on, with deletion after 3 months.

I don't really trust DuckDuckGo, but I use their search service because I trust Google less... I still trust Firefox more for a browser although it won't take much at this point to make me switch.

projomni 6y ago

a paranoid android-:)

coronadisaster 6y ago
yeah Android is a lot worst than using Google search

kovac 6y ago

There's Qwant, a search engine. I'm using that. It's not as fast as Bing, but it does the job and seem to be trustworthy.

stan_rogers 6y ago

There's always Startpage. You use Startpage; Startpage uses Google for you, with their own user agent - no history, no tracking.

Nextgrid 6y ago
How does that work? What does Google have to gain from it? Google has pretty aggressive anti-scraping protections to protect against this exact behavior, so why would they allow Startpage to get away with it? What does Startpage have to gain from it? Unlike DDG, they don't seem to have any core product, so they fully depend on Google's goodwill which is very shaky grounds when it comes to a long-term business.
- smoe 6y ago
  Startpage.com says they are paying Google: "You can’t beat Google when it comes to online search. So we’re paying them to use their brilliant search results in order to remove all trackers and logs."
- stan_rogers 6y ago
  They pay Google, and use untargeted ads (that is, not user-targeted) to support the service.
- sidibe 6y ago
  > Unlike DDG, they don't seem to have any core product, so they fully depend on Google's goodwill which is very shaky grounds when it comes to a long-term business. Isn't that exactly like DDG but Google instead of Bing?
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    My understanding is that DDG is using Bing results as well as their own. Whether their in-house results can stand on their own is another matter, but at least they're trying to reduce their dependency on Bing, where as Startpage is not.
    - Kiro 6y ago
      No, their own crawler is just used for Instant Answers and other widgets. https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources/ https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/so... > We also of course have more traditional links in the search results, which we also source from multiple partners, though most commonly from Bing (and none from Google). So basically it's all Bing and I see no effort to reduce that dependency as you claim.
- Kiro 6y ago
  What's DDG core product?
chris_f 6y ago
Runnaroo is also a search engine that is Google based (for organic results). IMO it has an advantage over Startpage because of its integration of vertical search sources, like Stack Overflow [0]. I'm the creator. Mojeek [1] is also a good privacy option that doesn't get talked about as much as DDG. They distinguish themselves by having their own search index. [0] https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=python+unit+testing https://www.runnaroo.com/search?term=python+unit+testing [1] https://www.mojeek.com/ https://www.mojeek.com/
moonchild 6y ago
Startpage was bought by an ad company.
- notRobot 6y ago
  Indeed: https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/di5rn3/startpage_is_now_owned_by_an_advertising_company/ https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/di5rn3/startpage_i...

bad_user 6y ago

Google is a big target for law enforcement though. The EU for example can't wait to slap them with another huge fine. Go here and turn your "web and app activity", your "location history" and "ad personalisation" off, if they aren't already: https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-personalization https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-personalization If you do that, there's no evidence that Google is more privacy invading than DuckDuckGo, since you're left with taking their word for it. And frankly I trust a big, bureaucratic company more than I trust a startup. The ideal would be to trust technology (e.g. end to end encryption, open source) but that's not the case here. Note that I also use DuckDuckGo in my Private Mode, as Firefox allows setting different search engine for Private Mode. I do that because it's better to compartmentalize your online personas, plus I keep my "web and app activity" in Google on, with deletion after 3 months.