I don’t use google. I use Duckduckgo.
The looks I get when someone sees me type a query into the address bar only to see this strange search engine coming up with an answer, range from stunned silences to prolonged states of unease. Some have strokes and die. And then they ALWAYS ask me why I don’t use google.
Little do the sheeple know what they’re missing out on.
About 2 years ago, before I made the switch, I was skeptical. An unknown startup taking on the googoliath? What can they give me that the overlord can’t? I was/am also a student and I do artificial intelligence research, so the majority of my searches turn out to be math/coding related stuff. Could it really give me useful results, was one important question to ask. But I usually am one to try out stuff. And after using the Duck for a while, I was hooked.
!bangs to search within any other site, including google? Playable video and audio right under the search bar, that doesn’t redirect you to some other armpit of the internet? Regional and ad-free searches? Instant music / weather / color / recipe searches? URL expanders, event finders, the list goes on and on and on. Duck’s got them all.
And best of all, privacy, so you can sleep at night. No more being scared about someone finding out about that foot fetish of yours. The Duck doesn’t give a shit about your personal quirks. Neither does it follow you around like a Stan.
To say Duckduckgo is a good search engine is an understatement. Duck is love, Duck is life. If the Duck creates an AI research organization in the future, like Google Deepmind (DuckDuckMind?), count me in.
And to anyone who asks me to switch back, I raise you my webbed feet, and fold both them fingers at the ends.