I have had the same experience, Google is just better then anything else I have tried, so called Google alternatives including. If you have an account, it helps with personalized searches, which can be useful and accustomed to your needs, so unless you are concerned about privacy issues, it is a no-brainier.
I've been a long time Google user but because of this poll I gave the Duck a go; so far I like it, the results are pertinent and accurate. Also I appreciate the visual customization and how you can search by region or no region. I'll try it for a week before I vote.
My searches are not personalized and they still beat google "alternatives." Start page was close 2nd but started suffering from huge issue of very limited results.
I am concerned about privacy issues, that's why it is a no-brainer. If you want your privacy, don't use Google. Startpage and ixquick for me.
They are tightly linked and described as "sisters". At first glance it is a bit confusing trying to work out who is who. When you do a Startpage search you get hits. Within each entry is a link to view a site by ixquick, which says "view by ixquick proxy". Here's some excerpts and their relevant links, which will help. Follow this link to find out:
Google is still the best, others are too slow to deliver results, even when it's only a matter of milliseconds, it still annoys me. But I do have to say that the text ads on top of the search-results are starting to bug me. But that's the way they make their money if I'm correct, they want you to click on those links.
Startpage on the desktop, DDG on mobile. I quit using Google about 5 years ago but am still looking for an alternative for Google image search.
Startpage by default because it's better for privacy. Google is better though in terms of search results even though Startpage supposedly uses Google, so sometimes I go back to it. Of course neither works in China without VPN, so when not VPN'd I have to use Baidu search.
After a week using DuckDuckGo and comparing it with Google I Decided to use Duck as my main search engine. Google is still the superior product but no by much; sometimes I'll have to scroll down Duck's results to find a more relevant result that Google would show upper on the page but that's not an issue to me and even allows me to go through other entries that I'd miss otherwise. The Duck is also more versatile with customization and search options.
I mainly use startpage or Duckduckgo, but I've recently discovered disconnect.me, which is basically on proxy for Google, or Yahoo or Bing- great service. Unlike startpage, I've found the results to be exactly the same as Google.
DDG (DuckDuckGo...) as default search engine, Google, Bing, Disconnect Search. I no longer use StartPage as it offers a (still) beta layout which bypasses traditional anti-advertizement practices with a new ad scheme which, even if easily removable, demotivates me to continue with that engine.
I use Ixquick and never have any problem getting the results I want/need when I search. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I never got that complaint. I mean you do a search for something, generally the first result is a Wikipedia article, if there is one. Then other relevant/in depth articles and peer reviewed journals, reviews, etc... from major media sources. I don't see how the results can be more relevant than the ones I get. Also certainly no slowdown. In fact it's probably the quickest I've used, unless I'm proxied. I block elements I don't need though so I'm sure that helps. All that shows up is 10 results and a link for the proxy for each one. No other fluff, ads, or sponsored links.
I use Google and Yandex. Of list, some unknown to me, some harmful I think. For example Ask.com once (auto) installed to me, then I spent an hour to clean up from his entries.