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My worry with that business model is that people concerned about privacy enough to switch to DDG probably are really likely to use adblock

chrisco255 6y ago
My worry is that if they ever achieved a dominant, Google-like position in the marketplace, that they would eventually lapse and go for greed. Even if the current DDG leadership is principled in this respect, companies go through turnover. Can't be evil > don't be evil.
- skinkestek 6y ago
  If/when that happen the HN crowd should look at it as a business opportunity. I can be an early customer.
- ConceptJunkie 6y ago
  Given that Google owns that position, and is being evil in order to maintain it, that is very, very unlikely. I'll stick with DDG and take that risk.
idrios 6y ago
If it ever leaked that DDG was tracking user data, they would lose their only competitive advantage and lose all their users
jasonv 6y ago
Personally, I don’t mind an ad or two. It’s not ads, per se, that have me using an ad blocker... it’s the “bad UI impact of tons of ads and pop-ups” that keep me in ad block mode. When a site wants me to turn off the ad blocker and it doesn’t look insane, I’m happy to comply. Same with DDG.
frosted-flakes 6y ago
DDG lets you turn off their ads in their own settings, so I don't think they're worried about it.
bogwog 6y ago
I use an ad blocker and DDG, but I still see ads when I search for something. The ads appear like Google search ads, but clearly labeled, so I doubt my ad blocker is going to be able to detect them without a feature to specifically target DDG. I don't have a problem with those ads, since they're not overly intrusive, they're clearly labeled, and they're not targeted to me based on my personal information. Plus, DDG actually gives me the option to disable ads completely. That's what "don't be evil" should look like.
john-shaffer 6y ago
DDG is registered as a Brave creator, so they can get some revenue from Brave users without ads.

chrisco255 6y ago

My worry is that if they ever achieved a dominant, Google-like position in the marketplace, that they would eventually lapse and go for greed. Even if the current DDG leadership is principled in this respect, companies go through turnover. Can't be evil > don't be evil.

skinkestek 6y ago
If/when that happen the HN crowd should look at it as a business opportunity. I can be an early customer.
ConceptJunkie 6y ago
Given that Google owns that position, and is being evil in order to maintain it, that is very, very unlikely. I'll stick with DDG and take that risk.

idrios 6y ago

If it ever leaked that DDG was tracking user data, they would lose their only competitive advantage and lose all their users

jasonv 6y ago

Personally, I don’t mind an ad or two. It’s not ads, per se, that have me using an ad blocker... it’s the “bad UI impact of tons of ads and pop-ups” that keep me in ad block mode. When a site wants me to turn off the ad blocker and it doesn’t look insane, I’m happy to comply. Same with DDG.

frosted-flakes 6y ago

DDG lets you turn off their ads in their own settings, so I don't think they're worried about it.

bogwog 6y ago

I use an ad blocker and DDG, but I still see ads when I search for something. The ads appear like Google search ads, but clearly labeled, so I doubt my ad blocker is going to be able to detect them without a feature to specifically target DDG. I don't have a problem with those ads, since they're not overly intrusive, they're clearly labeled, and they're not targeted to me based on my personal information. Plus, DDG actually gives me the option to disable ads completely. That's what "don't be evil" should look like.

john-shaffer 6y ago

DDG is registered as a Brave creator, so they can get some revenue from Brave users without ads.