Duck Duck Go

[newcustomeroffer]

Anyone else using Duck Duck Go excusively nowadays?

I've stopped using google for anything other than SERPS analysis. DDG actually offers some kind of sensible results rather than 4 ads, the odd snippet, a 'people also ask' box, some news/videos/etc and then 4 listings from a brand before returning a viable answer to a search.

All this constant frigging and manipulating of the search results from G is just tiresome.

[xecutable]

As much as I wanted to praise DDG, I couldn't. And while webmaster may hate Google for their updates, and privacy tracking and so on, they get what you ask for right.

I'm so used to the semantic searches, that I don't want to touch another engine. Do something simple like "who is the guy that plays in titanic" on DDG and the Google and see the difference.

This goes for dates of holidays I need, nearby locations, open-close hours of local stores and much much more. I too hate the ads, I too hate the update and bogus rankings, I too hate their 22 year old algo relying on something as flawed as links, BUT they have gotten a lot of stuff right at the same time.

Meanwhile, what's DDG's main selling point? We don't track you. And? And that's it. They have the potential to be relevant if they actually focused on the quality of the searches, rather than keep on bashing Google for tracking.

[affy]

Agree with xecutable.

Tried DDG for three weeks as my only SE... for me it was an absolute deception.

Next to impossible to find anything workable or close to answers when typing search phrases.

Besides that as Webmaster I am forced to Google for rankings as those are the ones that pay my bills...

[PROFRBcom]

Yes, I use DDG and recommend it to others. I also recommend that they use it in conjunction with a privacy browser. DDG makes a phone browser FYI.

I only use Google for research and when absolutely necessary because I can not find the answers I need on DDG.

[artrust99]

Actually, first time hearing about DDG. Most of the time I'm using Google, even if I don't like it.

[Cash Bonus]

I use DDG on my iPhone and it’s quite useful actually. I don’t use it too often though. Only when I really need it. I’ve also got it as an extension to my Chrome browser.

[Michael Martinez]

I prefer Bing. And it has the semantic analysis that DuckDuckGo lacks.

That's ironic, too, considering that DuckDuckGo is one of Bing's search partners. But DDG says they use more than one source for their search index, and that they have their own ranking algorithms.

I use the Edge browser on desktop for my personal interest searches and Kiwi on smartphone. I only use Chrome for a few tasks any more, and never on smartphone.

[newcustomeroffer]

Interesting comments so far.

DDG certainly got a way to go from a technical perspective but I'm seeing a steady increase in traffic from them over recent times from what was virtually zero a year or so ago. Still doesn't touch the sides versus Google but would suggest that their customer base is increasing. Maybe an anti-google stance from users rather more than anything I guess.

[chaumi]

I only search with Google. Gets what I want nearly every go (and I search a lot), from that perspective there is no logical reason to go elsewhere.

Don't give a toss that they track me, show me ads (yes it's mildly annoying at times but just ignore FFS).

And whatever you think about them, you have to give credit.

If G set out to be the most powerful company ever then they executed it fairly flawlessly.
If they only realised what they had part way in then they adapted flawlessly

So a company that doesn't give a f**k, can do what it wants, when it wants, and how it wants and no one can do anything about it as long as it stays within any legal guidelines. And has integrated itself (yes by luck/right place right time initially to an extent) so it's an essential part of daily life for billions of people. That's powerful (and clever) even if we don't necessarily like it.

[gm2891]

Most of the information is on Google plus many people think Google is the internet - not a search engine as they do not care about the difference.

So, Google will still be the most powerful source of information regardless of privacy concerns by some users.

Personally, I use Google with Brave browse which I can tune whatever I want, in case somebody tries to sell me some piece of shite or casino add... lol

With the right settings, it works exactly as if you search with DDG, but in this case, you search on Google.

All the Chrome extensions work with it fine plus, in case a page is not available on Google - it searches on Webarchive, also onion sites are available too, plus a cool feature - a private window with TOR.

[PROFRBcom]

Most of the information is on Google plus many people think Google is the internet - not a search engine as they do not care about the difference.

So, Google will still be the most powerful source of information regardless of privacy concerns by some users.

Personally, I use Google with Brave browse which I can tune whatever I want, in case somebody tries to sell me some piece of shite or casino add... lol

With the right settings, it works exactly as if you search with DDG, but in this case, you search on Google.

All the Chrome extensions work with it fine plus, in case a page is not available on Google - it searches on Webarchive, also onion sites are available too, plus a cool feature - a private window with TOR.

Sounds like Brave is better than when I tested it years ago... hmmm.

[CHIC21]

I heard that DDG's entire top is purely commercial. Those. belongs to the owner. Truth? Has anyone noticed such a thing?

[chaumi]

You mean that searches on commercial/gambling terms only return operator brands at the top? No not true, well at least on a few I just ran.

You would always expect to see operator brands in any search results since they do often answer the query/implied intent of the searcher.

[CHIC21]

No, I meant it was purchased. The one who brought in more money is also in the top. At least there was such a myth before. Again, who will regulate them? No one ))

[chaumi]

Well I never knew this till 2 mins ago.....

"DuckDuckGo is part of the affiliate programs of the eCommerce websites Amazon and eBay"

So if you're seeing related stuff to this then that's a pointer that they may be giving some preferences. And if they're doing this, I guess it's possible they may have other affiliate agreements which might entice them to show certain results (although I assume they'd have to be disclosing that somewhere, and may well be, I didn't look further).

On a few gambling terms I ran though I didn't see any evidence that anything deliberately manipulative is going on...even some of my own rank high and definitely I'm not paying/don't 'know someone'. Didn't run any ecommerce terms though.

[CHIC21]

And what methods did you use in conducting your resources? Very interesting

[chaumi]

And what methods did you use in conducting your resources? Very interesting

If you just go search on Google ''how does duckduckgo make money" There are plenty of explanations.

But that quote came from DDG's own help pages

[Inersha]

I use DuckDuckGo as my default search engine. If I can't find what I'm looking for, I append !g to the query and it gets passed to Google anyway.

I concede that DDG isn't quite as good as Google for finding stuff, but for me it's good enough, and the improved privacy outweighs the benefits of more accurate search results in day-to-day usage. And like I say, a Google search is only a !g away if you need it.

For keyword research I use Google.

[pinzoro]

There are times when I appreciate using Google because it shows me advertisements and other things that suit me, but there are also times when I feel undesirable because it seems to see through my interests that I don't want people to know about.

However, when I actually used DDG, I thought that Google was better, so I went back to Google after all.

[CHIC21]

I also use it when it is necessary that cookies are not stored and the presence on the site is not recorded in any way. but not a basic search engine. I'm not sure that he will give correct data in my region and will help me with some local location