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My quick review after more than a year of DDG as my default: - Technical searches are usually on par with Google, or even better. What made me switch originall

My quick review after more than a year of DDG as my default: - Technical searches are usually on par with Google, or even better. What made me switch originally was that I got fed up with Google just straight up ignoring half my query, and I've had none of that frustration with DDG. - I like the dark theme (although I think Google's experimenting with that now) - DDG is absolutely worthless when it comes to local searches like shops or even just nearby places (I live in Belgium). I always use '!g' for those. I also still use Google Maps.

MildlySerious 6y ago
That reflects my usage pretty accurately as well. I am rarely on a DDG results page for non-technical topics because I always delegate to other sites via !bang, !g being the most common one.
devenblake 6y ago
Another thing for which DuckDuckGo is useless: finding media. It or whatever crawler it uses totally falls for those keyword-flooded sites that have a couple ads and then paragraphs of "wandavision watch free mr robot now free download all seasons season 1 101 dalmatians disney land[...]" autogeneration. I wish they'd do something about all the spam.
- ethbr0 6y ago
  I think torrent meta-crawlers might be more what you're looking for. Try the torrentz2 clones
DavinMiler 6y ago
When it comes to local searches, i recommend toggling the little switch on the left that limits searches to a specific country/language. I have found that this helps a lot.
ravenstine 6y ago
It seems to do better with local searches in the US(not surprising) but it's still not very good at that. In terms of maps, DDG maps basically stinks besides the fact that the actual map UI is based on Apple Maps. It otherwise lacks a lot of features that MapQuest even had back in 1998.
teekert 6y ago
Did you set your location? I also though the results were pretty bad until I told ddg my location.
- evertheylen 6y ago
  Damn, that seems to actually work well! Thanks! I'll try it out more over the coming days, looks promising.
  - ethbr0 6y ago
    It's a good UX quandary too: if there's information that improves the primary user intent (queries) that's privacy-sensitive (e.g. location), what's the most ethical way to permit the user to voluntarily submit that?
jmholla 6y ago
> - Technical searches are usually on par with Google, or even better. What made me switch originally was that I got fed up with Google just straight up ignoring half my query, and I've had none of that frustration with DDG. One thing I don't get from DDG is multiple links to the same website, especially stack overflow. I often find information I need to answer my question across several SO questions, but DDG will only ever direct me towards one solution.
- arbol 6y ago
  Yeah this is why I always end up reverting back to Google. It's just much better for finding answers to coding questions
dleslie 6y ago
I still use the !gm bang too; but I'm starting to use the !mq bang more. It's a shame that the !osm bang is broken, because I use osmand instead of google maps.

MildlySerious 6y ago

That reflects my usage pretty accurately as well. I am rarely on a DDG results page for non-technical topics because I always delegate to other sites via !bang, !g being the most common one.

devenblake 6y ago

Another thing for which DuckDuckGo is useless: finding media. It or whatever crawler it uses totally falls for those keyword-flooded sites that have a couple ads and then paragraphs of "wandavision watch free mr robot now free download all seasons season 1 101 dalmatians disney land[...]" autogeneration. I wish they'd do something about all the spam.

ethbr0 6y ago
I think torrent meta-crawlers might be more what you're looking for. Try the torrentz2 clones

DavinMiler 6y ago

When it comes to local searches, i recommend toggling the little switch on the left that limits searches to a specific country/language. I have found that this helps a lot.

ravenstine 6y ago

It seems to do better with local searches in the US(not surprising) but it's still not very good at that. In terms of maps, DDG maps basically stinks besides the fact that the actual map UI is based on Apple Maps. It otherwise lacks a lot of features that MapQuest even had back in 1998.

teekert 6y ago

Did you set your location? I also though the results were pretty bad until I told ddg my location.

evertheylen 6y ago
Damn, that seems to actually work well! Thanks! I'll try it out more over the coming days, looks promising.
- ethbr0 6y ago
  It's a good UX quandary too: if there's information that improves the primary user intent (queries) that's privacy-sensitive (e.g. location), what's the most ethical way to permit the user to voluntarily submit that?

jmholla 6y ago

> - Technical searches are usually on par with Google, or even better. What made me switch originally was that I got fed up with Google just straight up ignoring half my query, and I've had none of that frustration with DDG. One thing I don't get from DDG is multiple links to the same website, especially stack overflow. I often find information I need to answer my question across several SO questions, but DDG will only ever direct me towards one solution.

arbol 6y ago
Yeah this is why I always end up reverting back to Google. It's just much better for finding answers to coding questions

dleslie 6y ago

I still use the !gm bang too; but I'm starting to use the !mq bang more. It's a shame that the !osm bang is broken, because I use osmand instead of google maps.