I Ditched Google for DuckDuckGo. Here's Why You Should Too

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Google

It all started with a realization: Most the things I search for are easy to find. Did I really need the all-seeing, all-knowing algorithms of Google to assist me? Probably not. So I made a simple change: I opened up Firefox on my Android phone and switched Google search for DuckDuckGo. As a result, I’ve had a fairly tedious but important revelation: I search for really obvious stuff. Google’s own data backs this up. Its annual round-up of the most searched-for terms is basically a list of names and events: World Cup, Avicii, Mac Miller, Stan Lee, Black Panther, Megan Markle. The list goes on. And I don’t need to buy into Google’s leviathan network of privacy-invading trackers to find out what Black Panther is and when I can go and see it at my local cinema.

#Search Engine #Internet Search #Web Search 3690 social mentions

2

DuckDuckGo

A quick office survey revealed similar search banality: recent Googles included "capitalist," "toxoplasmosis," and "hyde park police." For the most part, what we’re looking for online is simple: definitions, companies, names, and places. Where DuckDuckGo has struggled is when I look for something incredibly specific. So, for example, search for "film Leonardo Dicaprio goats scene" in DuckDuckGo and it doesn’t understand you’re looking for Blood Diamond. Google does. While Google, with its vastly greater tranche of search data, is able to second-guess what I’m after, DuckDuckGo requires a bit more hand-holding. That doesn’t mean I can’t find what I’m looking for, but it does mean I have to modify my search term a couple of times to narrow things down.

#Search Engine #Web Search #Internet Search 1642 social mentions