schmurnan

Which privacy-focused search engine are you using?

https://lemmy.world/post/2688737

Which privacy-focused search engine are you using? - Lemmy.world

TL;DR - which privacy-focused search engine do people recommend, preferably one that can also easily be used as a default option in Safari? I ditched Google in about 2016ish I would guess, and since then have used DDG as my default search engine. As someone entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, it’s always seemed like a sound choice, as it’s one of the search engines built in to Safari on both iOS and macOS. After spending a bit more time recently playing around with and updating my Docker containers, I started hosting a Whoogle container, which seemed to work pretty well, but I don’t see many out there talking about it, so not sure how good it actually is. I then tried a SearXNG container, but either had it misconfigured or just wasn’t getting many search results back. At the moment I’m trying out Startpage, but I know there are potential privacy concerns since they were part-bought in 2019 by a US ad-tech company. I’m also playing around with different browsers at the moment, flicking between Safari, Firefox and Brave. At which point I stumbled across Brave Search, which seems pretty promising. So, which search engines do you all recommend?

Aug 5, 2023 at 8:39amWeb
Show threadBlaze (he/him)Aug 5, 2023
lemmy.world/post/311854
Privacy Search Engines - Lemmy.world

- DuckDuckGo [https://duckduckgo.com/] - Mojeek [https://www.mojeek.com/] - SearXNG [https://searx.space/] - Startpage [https://startpage.com/] (blocks TOR) - Swisscows [https://swisscows.com/] (blocks TOR) - MetaGer [https://metager.org/] - Brave [https://search.brave.com/] P2P: - YaCy [https://yacy.net/] - SightNet [http://github.com/sightnet] (is under development)

Show threadschmurnanAug 5, 2023
Thanks, I’ll take a look. I didn’t know about that post.
Show threadViper_NZAug 5, 2023

I’ve been using DuckDuckGo for years now and recommend it all the time.

I get decent, reliable results so haven’t shopped around.

Show threadggaaapAug 5, 2023
This. Clean, reliable and functional. Although I’ve never wrapped my head around how they make their $$
Show threadal4sAug 5, 2023

They place ads in the search results.

If you disable your ad blocker, the first search result will almost always an Amazon ad. I test searched for “Headphones” and it also shows a row of JBL headphones at the top ala google shopping, which is an ad as well.

Really, they make their money the same way as google, they just don’t track your searches and site visits.

Show threadRedderthanmistyAug 5, 2023
They still run ads, just less profitable ones since they’re less intrusive and arent personalised.
Show threadSkylineAug 5, 2023
Do you find DDG to be slower than Bing or Google? A few years ago I thought there was a noticeable delay with DDG, but not with Google.
Show threadViper_NZAug 5, 2023
Not really, they’re both nice and snappy.
Show threadEpicFailGuyAug 5, 2023

@Viper_NZ

@schmurnan

Been a duckie for years now but I find myself going back to google for things like maps and shopping (that nearby search is a godsend) have you found any privacy mindfull alternatives?

Show threadViper_NZAug 5, 2023
Unfortunately not. If anyone knows of something I’d be keen.
Show threadFireplantAug 6, 2023

On Android you can install Organic Maps, but the downside is that it’s 100% offline so you’ll need to download the maps for each area you want to have a map of (which, takes storage)

OsmAnd+ seems to be a good alternative recommended often, but I just haven’t used it.

On PC, OpenStreetMaps is your friend

Show threadFireplantAug 6, 2023

On Android you can install Organic Maps, but the downside is that it’s 100% offline so you’ll need to download the maps for each area you want to have a map of (which, takes storage)

OsmAnd+ seems to be a good alternative recommended often, but I just haven’t used it.

On PC, OpenStreetMaps is your friend

Show threadHighLiteAug 5, 2023
Ready to get downvoted again, but I like Brave Search as I’ve been using the excellent browser for a couple of years now anyway. The search gets better and better with time and has its own independent, privacy friendly picture search now as well. So I’ll definitely stick with Brave.
Show threadnoodlejetskiAug 5, 2023

Ready to get downvoted again
such courage

Show threadBlizzardAug 5, 2023
And bravery
Show threadschmurnanAug 5, 2023

I’ve always just used Safari as my browser on iOS and macOS so have never paid attention to reviews/opinions on the newer browsers such as Brave. Before I switched to Mac I always used Firefox on my Windows machines so know how privacy focused they’ve always been. But I’m hearing a lot of positives about Brave, and so far it seems pretty decent.

I’ve tried Arc but wasn’t entirely convinced. And in work I have a Windows machine so have been tied to Edge (although I’ve recently put in a request for Firefox and had it approved).

I guess it’d be nice to have a consistent search experience across the board, which the likes of DDG would give me. But definitely seeing good things about Brave and Brave Search.

Show threadneuromancerAug 5, 2023
I think the biggest selling point for Brave Search is that they are building their own index, and they rely on Bing or Google to do the search.
Show threadAopenAug 5, 2023
Every search engine is available on every browser. This means you can use brave search with browser not dependent on google’s code. It would also protect you from google’s web environment integrity plans
Download the fastest Firefox ever

Faster page loading, less memory usage and packed with features, the new Firefox is here.

Mozilla
Show threadNixAug 5, 2023
I think you replied to the wrong comment
Show threadleekleakAug 5, 2023
I’ve had a pretty similar journey to yours and I’m currently using Qwant, although the only reason I’m using them is because they’re based in Europe and haven’t had any scandals that I could find. If you’re really concerned about privacy I’d probably recommend Kagi.
Show threadflurryAug 5, 2023
They have a partnership with Microsoft. Not saying it’s a scandal but that was my reason to stop using it
Show threadtarlitzAug 5, 2023
It’s so difficult to compete with free though. The monthly fee for kagi is a bit steep, which is not for everyone (>5 €/month), even if that is the ‘true’ price of searching the web. It does have some very interesting features though. A colleague of mine is always praising it, saying that the search results are better than anything else he has tried.
Show threadAgility0971Aug 5, 2023
Just using duckduckgo. I’m not happy with my search results as they heavily prioritize clickbait CEO blogs instead of showing official documentation / sources.
Show threadL_AcaciaAug 5, 2023
Duckduckgo results are pretty bad in my experience, brave search and startpage are way better.
Show threadEngywookAug 5, 2023
My own searxng instance, listed at search.space
Show threadschmurnanAug 5, 2023
Perhaps I need to go back to figuring out SearXNG. Although I did read that there’s a slight privacy compromise to use SearXNG over SearX.
Show threadpacoboydAug 5, 2023
Using self hosted SearXNG as well. If you have docker running already it’s a snap to setup.
Show threadschmurnanAug 5, 2023
Yeah I’ve got Docker up and running with lots of containers, but wasn’t getting any results back from SearXNG for some reason, kept getting timeouts. I’ve got everything running behind Traefik so might just be a bit of a config issue.
Show threadpacoboydAug 5, 2023
I probably wouldn’t expose it externally to your network, but that’s just me. Unless that’s what you’re doing, there aren’t really any ports to expose with Traefik.
Show threadschmurnanAug 5, 2023
No, I’m using local DNS in Pi-hole with a domain I own but nothing is externally accessible. And even if it were, I’ve got Authelia on all my containers (except, Vaultwarden because I can’t get it to work).
Show threadSamsonSeinfelderAug 5, 2023

Default search in Firefox: SearXNG (solves 60-80%)

if not the solution, I then search for “dd [term]” which goes to duckduckgo. Solves mostly the rest.

If not, and I am really desperate, I try: “dd !g [term]” so it goes to ddg, redirects to google and then I am reminded how bad a first page result can be. Only ads, sponsored entries and only big company names. Good luck finding anything from a forum or a small blog on google today. All the search words are bundled up in company results that has nothing to do with the topic.

GitHub - searx/searx-instances: Searx instance list

Searx instance list. Contribute to searx/searx-instances development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadNixAug 5, 2023
You don’t use an adblocker?
Show threadSamsonSeinfelderAug 5, 2023
Sure. But how is that changing the quality of google results? Are you trolling?
Show threadNixAug 5, 2023
I meant because you mentioned there’s nothing but ads which would be gone with an adblocker. Did you mean the actual results are essentially ads or literally the ads and Sponsored post at the top?
Show threadSamsonSeinfelderAug 5, 2023
Sponsored results. I do not see ads, but I can see from the thing that I was searching for, and the difference between the that abd the first 4 results, that this can not be a real search result but a highly customized and profiled result. The results are just straight garbage.
Show threaddarreninthenetAug 5, 2023
Have a look at uBlacklist it removes a lot of the SEO rubbish for me
Show threadangelsomethingAug 5, 2023
Personally, I use duck duck go as my primary search engine but I only use it to search for things. But since chatgpt4, I use perplexity.ai for actual answers. Browser wise, I use duck duck go where I can or Arc on my Mac with all the usual privacy plugins.
Show threadschmurnanAug 5, 2023

What are your thoughts on Arc? I tried it a couple of months ago but couldn’t really get used to the layout, etc.

Sure it’s as good a browser as any, I just wasn’t feeling it.

Show threadangelsomethingAug 5, 2023
For me personally, it fits how work with the web. I really like the full screen view and the tab navigation between spaces and bookmarks. Because it’s so different, There is a learning curve but once passed it, I genuinely enjoy the experience it offers. I don’t care much for the other customisation features but I can see why they’d appeal to users.
Show threadIm28xwaAug 5, 2023

Currently using Startpage and my only criticism of it is that it is noticeably slower than the other 2 that I have used DDG and Brave

I would recommend DDG and Startpage for the people who don’t want to use Google search anymore but want similar if not identical search results

I did change the default search engine of some of my relatives to Startpage without them knowing:)

Show threadverysoftAug 5, 2023
DDG cause the bangs are nice, but I find myself searching generally very little these days. I usually just use a bang to search a site I know I will find what I want on, if no bang then I will just navigate to that site. Search results have been shit for over a decade.
Show threadJohannoAug 5, 2023
I am using startpage.com since they include Google results and DDG just has bad results sometimes
Show threadHerowynAug 5, 2023
Using qwant because it's developed and hosted in France. Better than supporting a US company as a European.
Show threadtarlitzAug 5, 2023
I started using qwant last year for thr same reason and I haven’t looked back. Search results are excellent. I sometimes switch to Startpage as a proxy for google.
Show threadMakeItCountAug 5, 2023

But qwant uses bing

So you’re still supporting Microsoft

Show threadHerowynAug 6, 2023
They use their own indexer.
Show threadjacktherippahAug 5, 2023
I think there was some drama a while ago about them collecting and sharing data which got them delisted from PrivacyGuides? Not a good look imo.
Show threadSpunkyBarnesAug 5, 2023

ddg.gg for the win.

Started using them when I confronted the Google filter bubble for the first time.

But what totally sold me? DDG provided me link for a product I had searched for in vain on Google for years at that point, using the exact same query.

Show threadDominusOfMegadeusAug 5, 2023
Please reveal the product. I am consumed by curiosity.
Show threadSpunkyBarnesAug 5, 2023

Steel leveling jacks, manual, center screw variety, used extensively for leveling mobile homes back in the day.

First time I used DDG to look for them, BOOM, half way down the page a manufacturer in Enid, OK. G? Literally for years kept serving me up pneumatic, expensive, industrial gear or services.

Show threadDominusOfMegadeusAug 5, 2023
That is definitely not what I was expecting
Show threadreflexAug 5, 2023

That is definitely not what I was expecting

Please reveal what you were expecting. I am consumed by curiosity.

Show threadfluxionAug 5, 2023
Titanium leveling jacks most likely
Show threadzer0nixAug 7, 2023
Your post may have just convinced me to try ddg. My problem with Google is that increasingly it does not give me what I am looking for and instead gives me what it thinks I should want. From your description it sounds like ddg is what Google used to be.
Show threadSpunkyBarnesAug 7, 2023
Pretty much. They deliver a couple of sponsored entries per search, but even those have been occasionally productive. No harm in trying for a while, you can always change if it’s not working. GL&HF!
Show threadMrduckrocksAug 5, 2023
I used to think Google search was clean until I used ddg. For some reason I prefer how ddg display searches.
Show threadjcrabappleAug 5, 2023
I started paying for Kagi a few months ago and I'm loving it. Search results and tools are great. People balk at paying for a search engine, but at least this way I know I'm not the product.
Show threadschmurnanAug 5, 2023
I’m seeing a lot of love for Kagi as well. Not sure I’m quite ready to have to pay for search results, but I fully appreciate people that do. I have lots of subscriptions already and am trying to reduce them (i.e. self-hosting Vaultwarden as a replacement for 1Password).
Show threadpsykonAug 5, 2023
I often recommend people using the "100 searches" trial of kagi to see if it might be worth it for them. I tried it and for me the price is worth it because of the custom filters and weights for results. It's really nice to search for something and all results on the first page are relevant content (no ads, seo-bait pages or stuff like Pinterest).
Show thread1984Aug 5, 2023
People don’t even know what that feels like I think. Google has messed them up.