Is DuckDuckGo a good search engine?

[GreyGeek]

An interesting article raising some interestng questions:
http://techrights.org/2020/07/02/ddg...r-in-disguise/
I wasn't aware of the history of the DDG creator.

[kenj70]

Holy smokes! Reading the techrights website is rather enlightening. Who can we trust these days? I feel like Diogenes, looking for an honest man.

[Fred47]

A bit behind, I'm still a loyal DDG user. If there is another search engine (that isn't just a front end to Google) let us know.

[GreyGeek]

Startpage.com
Go to its settings page and create your setup. Instead of saving your settings in a cookie, copy the URL your settings create and paste it into your "Search" engine input text.
But then there is this. Using Google as a source for links isn't bad IF your personal info isn't passed along as part of the bargain.

And, there is searx, or, Qwant, or, Mojeek, or want a Russian search engine? Yandex

In fact, here is a list of 20 that you can use.

[jlittle]

A bit behind, I'm still a loyal DDG user. If there is another search engine (that isn't just a front end to Google) let us know.

DDG is a front end to Bing. I prefer Google to Microsoft.

[Fred47]

DDG is a front end to Bing. I prefer Google to Microsoft.

Well not wholly, it does use Bing but also several other sites plus their own scans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckDuckGo You can test this out by doing a search in each and see the difference.

I've seen some of the other sites but there is some advanced features of DDG (bang) that I use and not ready to give them up, or learn new ones.

[Goeroeboeroe]

Sorry to ruin the party, but here's an interesting story about Startpage.: https://restoreprivacy.com/startpage...acy-one-group/

[jglen490]

In my opinion, the biggest threat to each of us is not paying attention to what we click on. Browsers, email, etc., it's all the same.

[GreyGeek]

Sorry to ruin the party, but here's an interesting story about Startpage.: https://restoreprivacy.com/startpage...acy-one-group/

Saw that, and another link which suggested that a Chinese group has purchased an interest in StartPage. But, I don't know how true that is. Here is an interesting article about the "Best Private Search Engines".
It differentiates between "meta" search engines like DDG, StartPage, and the like which cycle Google, Bing or Yandex results, those last three being true search engines. Another true search engine, and one of my favorites, is MoJeek, which sends out its own crawlers. Don't forget SwissCows!
However, be careful of YaCy (pronouncedd "ya see"). It is a distributed, peer-to-peer search engine, meaning that you have to install a peer-to-peer system

YaCy is a peer-to-peer search engine and web crawler. Users install the software and become a “YaCy-peer”, volunteering their computer to independently crawl through the web, analyzing and indexing websites into a database shared by all Yacy peers. More than 400 million websites have been indexed by YaCy. There is no central server; the database is shared and upheld by the YaCy peers.

There are a few distinct advantages of a decentralized peer-to-peer search engine: since there is no central server or company who owns the service, the search results cannot be censored, and no incentives to prioritize results based on prospective contracts or advertising dollars.

A problem with YaCy revolves around your ISP's "ToS". Some forbid you from using your computer as an Internet server, which is what you are doing when you install a P2P system on your box. I've been unable to determine exactly which P2P engine YaCy uses, but photos of their pages looks very similar to the IPFS system, which I tested in Sept of 2017. Also, you don't know if one of your peers is using your machine to store porn because you can't see into it without the hash link to decrypt it. You'd be in a world of legal and financial troubles trying to prove yourself innocent. That's the main reason why I decided NOT to use P2P networks.

This image shows 840 IPFS peer connections to my laptop. My bandwidth on my 40Mbps connection was allowing me 500Kbps, and my laptop was equally slow.

[oshunluvr]

My opinion: They all suck, but not as bad has google does now. You simply can't get meaningful results from google because they've so overloaded it with advertisement algorithms you can't get to your desired results. I'm waiting for a browser plug-in that actually hides the ad results rather than just blocking the links.

[Qqmike]

Not a search expert here. But I agree with jglen: watch your clicker!

jglen: In my opinion, the biggest threat to each of us is not paying attention to what we click on. Browsers, email, etc., it's all the same.

As for Google, yeah. But so what. If you have something to hide, then you darn well better hide it -- stay off the Net or know how to use it on the sly. As for privacy, what is that? As for Google's part in it, are you aware that you can go into your Google account and manage, control, delete almost everything? Besides, I have an ace in the hole. If ever asked about something personal I left on the Internet somewhere, well, as kids we would say something like, "I did that to fool the enemy when he flies over." Now and then, add a little garbage to your clicking!

Questions?

[Snowhog]

[Snowhog retreats to the shadows; updates dossier on Qqmike.]

[Qqmike]

🤣 🤣 🤣 I need 7 more characters. Maybe I can recruit some of the characters here at KFN!?

[GreyGeek]

My opinion: They all suck, but not as bad has google does now. You simply can't get meaningful results from google because they've so overloaded it with advertisement algorithms you can't get to your desired results. I'm waiting for a browser plug-in that actually hides the ad results rather than just blocking the links.

And, over that last five or six years, Google has been sorting and filtering our search results to limit what we can access and present political links we'd never visit. Pure censorship.

That said, I believe that it is essentially impossible to prevent Google and its ilk from collecting out personal data, even if we use a VPN or Tor. Single pixel bots, hardware signature analysis, AI and more working on their 100K+ servers, too many to block with a host file, make keeping our personal info private essentially impossible. All I protect against now is hackers, but my system isn't worth their time because everyone and his brother probably has my personal info and they wouldn't be able to add my machine to their bot farm or make it one of their command and control systems. Why bother? There are too many lowing hanging Windows boxes out there to bother with my Linux box.

[claydoh]

Search engine aggregators are another option that can be useful. SearX is one example
On any search engine, using even the most basic operators will vastly increase decent results, or at least filter out the junk and keyword spam.

[jglen490]

Search engines are complex and require a LOT of support and maintenance. So, why does that matter? They are free to use. No one (generally) pays for a search engine. So, they generate income by selling user info, usually metadata.

Of course, if enough metadata is available, actual data is not required.

The ONLY thing a user can do, IMNSHO, is watch what you click. Be a healthy skeptic. Live with it, or unplug.

[kc1di]

I find you can't trust any search engine with your personal data. They make their income from mining info to be sold to advertisers or others. I just use the one that seems to work for me.
DDG most of the time But have used start page also. I just assume none of them is out for my privacy. And any privacy i may have on the WWW i'll have to take care of myself.
VPN's help but are not a total answer either. If the Gov. or others want your info there are just too many sources to get it from. Other than moving to were there is no grid no internet and still they have ways.