Discussion
Yes, I've been using it for years and I always set it as my default search engine in all my browsers. It supposedly doesn't track you at all, and it only ever seems to have one sponsored link in the results, and that only started recently.
You can toggle "UK," to get local results, and there's a choice to override the safe search if you want to get dodgy sites in the results.
It's got categories to choose from, ie: Web, Images, Videos, News, Audio and Products.
The only thing I use other search engines for nowadays is maps, which I always end up having to use Google for.
You can toggle "UK," to get local results, and there's a choice to override the safe search if you want to get dodgy sites in the results.
It's got categories to choose from, ie: Web, Images, Videos, News, Audio and Products.
The only thing I use other search engines for nowadays is maps, which I always end up having to use Google for.
It also supports 'bangs', which are short codes to redirect to different search providers. The only one I've used myself is !g, which searches google - but the key point is that it searches google from DDG, rather than from your IP, meaning google shouldn't be able to track those searches.
To use it, just put !g at the start of your search phase on DDG - it also works if you have DDG as your default browser search provider.
To use it, just put !g at the start of your search phase on DDG - it also works if you have DDG as your default browser search provider.
jmorgan said:
Interestingly there is an extension I use on Safari (not sure what else it will work on) warns you of tracker networks blocked. Two on here.
Use Ghostery on Safari (or FF & Chrome) as it blocks more trackers. Currently blocking 12 as I type this.I use DuckDuckGo on a few devices, always seems decent enough and has a few good options for configuring it.
poing said:
jmorgan said:
Interestingly there is an extension I use on Safari (not sure what else it will work on) warns you of tracker networks blocked. Two on here.
Use Ghostery on Safari (or FF & Chrome) as it blocks more trackers. Currently blocking 12 as I type this.I use DuckDuckGo on a few devices, always seems decent enough and has a few good options for configuring it.
I made a conscious decision to move away from Google services over the last few years. Gmail became Protonmail, Chrome became Opera (Firefox on my phone), Google Maps became Waze, Google search became DuckDuckGo and I've been very happy with all of the changes.
I should say that I do switch back to Google (and sometimes Bing) when the DDG results aren't delivering and that's usually when shopping, and it returns too many US-centric results (even with the UK toggle on). The vast majority of the time, however, it's absolutely fine.
The problem with Google is it is becoming more about what it thinks you want to find, and I don't think that's healthy. Stumbling on things by accident is often the best form of discovery. It's a bit like only following people you agree with on social media; you end up continuously reinforcing your own bubble.
I almost miss the days when searching was a bit of an art form.
There's a good summary of reasons to try DuckDuckGo here:
https://www.quora.com/Why-should-I-use-DuckDuckGo-...
Their Twitter feed is fascinating too, highlighting all the ways our data is being w
ed out.
I should say that I do switch back to Google (and sometimes Bing) when the DDG results aren't delivering and that's usually when shopping, and it returns too many US-centric results (even with the UK toggle on). The vast majority of the time, however, it's absolutely fine.
The problem with Google is it is becoming more about what it thinks you want to find, and I don't think that's healthy. Stumbling on things by accident is often the best form of discovery. It's a bit like only following people you agree with on social media; you end up continuously reinforcing your own bubble.
I almost miss the days when searching was a bit of an art form.
There's a good summary of reasons to try DuckDuckGo here:
https://www.quora.com/Why-should-I-use-DuckDuckGo-...
Their Twitter feed is fascinating too, highlighting all the ways our data is being w
ed out.durbster said:
Google Maps became Waze,
err you know thats owned by GoogleI have been used DDG for a few months after the missies was getting ads served up on her phone for things I had searched for (nothing dodgy fortunately). Seems ok, but still like Google for the Shopping feature.
Edited by dogbucket on Sunday 25th February 17:23
jmorgan said:
Reading somewhere that Google is worse that Facebook for gathering info but it gets less bad press. I try not to use google stuff, I have a cookie cleaner that clears it all out and never liked their products T+C and Wase is up there. Along with the picture services etc.
+1 unfortunately its very far reaching but I minimise as much as possible.Getting very near to the stage of ditching Android for Apple as the latter seem much better where privacy is concerned.
durbster said:
I made a conscious decision to move away from Google services over the last few years. Gmail became Protonmail, Chrome became Opera (Firefox on my phone), Google Maps became Waze, Google search became DuckDuckGo and I've been very happy with all of the changes.
I should say that I do switch back to Google (and sometimes Bing) when the DDG results aren't delivering and that's usually when shopping, and it returns too many US-centric results (even with the UK toggle on). The vast majority of the time, however, it's absolutely fine.
The problem with Google is it is becoming more about what it thinks you want to find, and I don't think that's healthy. Stumbling on things by accident is often the best form of discovery. It's a bit like only following people you agree with on social media; you end up continuously reinforcing your own bubble.
I almost miss the days when searching was a bit of an art form.
There's a good summary of reasons to try DuckDuckGo here:
https://www.quora.com/Why-should-I-use-DuckDuckGo-...
Their Twitter feed is fascinating too, highlighting all the ways our data is being wed out.
You should try firefox on desktop again, much better nowadays. Opera was bought not so long ago by a Chinese company.I should say that I do switch back to Google (and sometimes Bing) when the DDG results aren't delivering and that's usually when shopping, and it returns too many US-centric results (even with the UK toggle on). The vast majority of the time, however, it's absolutely fine.
The problem with Google is it is becoming more about what it thinks you want to find, and I don't think that's healthy. Stumbling on things by accident is often the best form of discovery. It's a bit like only following people you agree with on social media; you end up continuously reinforcing your own bubble.
I almost miss the days when searching was a bit of an art form.
There's a good summary of reasons to try DuckDuckGo here:
https://www.quora.com/Why-should-I-use-DuckDuckGo-...
Their Twitter feed is fascinating too, highlighting all the ways our data is being w
ed out.hyphen said:
You should try firefox on desktop again, much better nowadays. Opera was bought not so long ago by a Chinese company.
Oh yes, the new Firefox is excellent and extremely fast. I'm a web developer so I bounce between all the browsers every day (even IE
), but I was a massive fan of Opera in the early 2000s and I have a bit of a soft spot for it. I didn't know they've been bought out though, that's good to know.Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff