4 ms·

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for keeping my private stuff - well, private. But, really, will this matter? I mean, how many people used Gnome's browser in the fir

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for keeping my private stuff - well, private. But, really, will this matter? I mean, how many people used Gnome's browser in the first place? and how many people, after trying DDG won't simply switch back to Google? Had Gnome's browser been no.1 or no.2 in the browser arena, the gesture may have had some impact (albeit just symbollicaly). But right now... do they think Google would even care/notice?

knappe 13y ago
Everything happens one step at a time.
jeena 13y ago
I think they are aware of what you're suggesting they wrote: "Then again, knowing the humble size of our userbase, we should let neither our expectations nor our imagination run wild on this front." Still it is the first browser which chooses DDG as its default search engine that I am aware of. This is quite a thing for such a small company like DDG. Now others can follow (or not) when they see that it worked (or not) for Gnome. And even if on Linux more people are aware of the fact that they can change their search engine in the browser, still there is a fair amount who just use what is there. It is therefore browsers nowadays are developed, do sell the default search engine position. I remember the days when IE had 98% of the market share.
- khill 13y ago
  I remember the days when Netscape Navigator had all the market share. Get off my lawn. :)
  - zanny 13y ago
    But then you consider that in the mid 90s, the raw number of devices regularly running Netscape Navigator was probably on par with todays usage statistics of Opera.
    - mitchty 13y ago
      I'd bet its even less than that. I remember watching the comets fall on that stupid icon and waiting... and waiting... only the truest of nerds tolerated that nonsense.
    - robin_reala 13y ago
      Out by half. Opera claim an active 300m users per month[1]; it doesn’t look like Netscape ever exceeded 130m (combination of [2] and [3]). [1] http://business.opera.com/press/faq http://business.opera.com/press/faq [2] http://www.allaboutmarketresearch.com/internet.htm http://www.allaboutmarketresearch.com/internet.htm [3] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netscape-navigator-usage-data.svg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netscape-navigator-us...
- ewzimm 13y ago
  Trisquel's abrowser also uses ddg as the default. Ddg contributes to the project
- nsmartt 13y ago
  Midori (the elementary OS browser) offers several default options for search, including DDG.
teaneedz 13y ago
The gesture is noteworthy not because of market share but because of who the user base is. It's exciting to see folks in the technology field (often the same ones who were educating others about Google in the early days) promoting DDG now. A browser that ships with DDG as its default, adds immediate cred to its brand image, IMO. Sometimes we need to be the ones willing to sacrifice a little bit of "convenience" to stand up for products and services that are at least attempting to travel a better road for users. Maybe I'm being a bit naive, but I believe that lines are being drawn and those products on the side of users, have a renewed opportunity to shine. DDG is right there - in a great position. I get the results I want from DuckDuckGo without bloat and "personalized" crud. If I really want to massage the DDG query results, I can add !sp and get a "Google" perspective with privacy. The !bang syntax just makes DDG more powerful. All in all, I think that Gnome's decision is more than just a gesture. It's the beginning of a shift and the big players can either read the message that's being sent or ignore it to their data loss.

knappe 13y ago

Everything happens one step at a time.

jeena 13y ago

I think they are aware of what you're suggesting they wrote: "Then again, knowing the humble size of our userbase, we should let neither our expectations nor our imagination run wild on this front." Still it is the first browser which chooses DDG as its default search engine that I am aware of. This is quite a thing for such a small company like DDG. Now others can follow (or not) when they see that it worked (or not) for Gnome. And even if on Linux more people are aware of the fact that they can change their search engine in the browser, still there is a fair amount who just use what is there. It is therefore browsers nowadays are developed, do sell the default search engine position. I remember the days when IE had 98% of the market share.

khill 13y ago
I remember the days when Netscape Navigator had all the market share. Get off my lawn. :)
- zanny 13y ago
  But then you consider that in the mid 90s, the raw number of devices regularly running Netscape Navigator was probably on par with todays usage statistics of Opera.
  - mitchty 13y ago
    I'd bet its even less than that. I remember watching the comets fall on that stupid icon and waiting... and waiting... only the truest of nerds tolerated that nonsense.
  - robin_reala 13y ago
    Out by half. Opera claim an active 300m users per month[1]; it doesn’t look like Netscape ever exceeded 130m (combination of [2] and [3]). [1] http://business.opera.com/press/faq http://business.opera.com/press/faq [2] http://www.allaboutmarketresearch.com/internet.htm http://www.allaboutmarketresearch.com/internet.htm [3] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netscape-navigator-usage-data.svg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netscape-navigator-us...
ewzimm 13y ago
Trisquel's abrowser also uses ddg as the default. Ddg contributes to the project
nsmartt 13y ago
Midori (the elementary OS browser) offers several default options for search, including DDG.

teaneedz 13y ago

The gesture is noteworthy not because of market share but because of who the user base is. It's exciting to see folks in the technology field (often the same ones who were educating others about Google in the early days) promoting DDG now. A browser that ships with DDG as its default, adds immediate cred to its brand image, IMO. Sometimes we need to be the ones willing to sacrifice a little bit of "convenience" to stand up for products and services that are at least attempting to travel a better road for users. Maybe I'm being a bit naive, but I believe that lines are being drawn and those products on the side of users, have a renewed opportunity to shine. DDG is right there - in a great position. I get the results I want from DuckDuckGo without bloat and "personalized" crud. If I really want to massage the DDG query results, I can add !sp and get a "Google" perspective with privacy. The !bang syntax just makes DDG more powerful. All in all, I think that Gnome's decision is more than just a gesture. It's the beginning of a shift and the big players can either read the message that's being sent or ignore it to their data loss.