Is DuckDuckGo search engine still reliable?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by Uitlander, Oct 19, 2020.

  1. Uitlander

    Uitlander Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 16, 2010
    Posts:
    255
    Location:
    Albany, CA
    While picking through various sites looking for replacements to Google, I came upon this link:
    https://archive.vn/SsLla
    ...casting doubt on duckduckgo. A lot of Google searches has failed to confirm or disprove what is said. The article appears to be purged from techrights, as their search box yields nothing. I figure if anyone knows whether or not this article is factual or bogus, this is the forum. Opinions?
     
  2. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2011
    Posts:
    4,208
    not necessarily any more reliable than google.
     
  3. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2016
    Posts:
    1,424
    Location:
    Dubai
    I tried it a few times, it NEVER finds what I want, I'd rather use Google and be tracked than deal with this crappy search engine.
     
  4. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2002
    Posts:
    8,102
    Location:
    Hawaii
    DuckDuckGo (DDG) is a metasearch engine. As such, DDG compiles search results from over 400 sources, including Yahoo, Search BOSS, Wolfram Alpha, Bing, Yandex, DDG's own web crawler (the DuckDuckBot), and others. DuckDuckGo has a close relationship with Yahoo (Yahoo is owned by Verizon).

    DDG generates money through advertisements and affiliates. DDG has partnered with Amazon and eBay as affiliates. Similar to Google and other search engines, DDG displays ads at the top of its search results.

    The founder of DDG, Gabriel Weinberg, was also behind a social network called Names Database, which collected the real names and addresses of its users. Weinberg later sold Names Database to Classmates.com for “approximately $10 million in cash” in March 2006. He started DDG in 2008.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The search engine I use is Metager (Mg). Mg's Privacy agreement is HERE. It is very VERY careful about user privacy.

    Mg is an open source metasearch engine based in Germany, which gets search results from Bing, Yandex, Yahoo and others, as well as having its own web crawler. I find its search results equal or surpass those of Google & DDG, but with fewer "bad hits".

    I especially like the fact that, for each of the websites listed in its search results, Mg offers 3 "click options" as follows: Open, Open in New Tab, and Open Anonymously. Grrrreat!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Possibly the MOST private search engine of all goes by the strange title of SwissCows. I haven't tried that one, however, so you'll have to do your own research.
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2020
  5. Buddel

    Buddel Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2015
    Posts:
    1,920
    I have tried most of the major search engines and still like Google best. Maybe their user privacy leaves a lot to be desired (which is the reason why I wouldn't touch Google Chrome) but, IMO, Google gives you the best search results. Just my 2 cents.
     
  6. Chuck57

    Chuck57 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2002
    Posts:
    1,770
    Location:
    New Mexico, USA
    Checked out Metager. I'd never heard of it. Based on a half dozen searches, it's found sites I never saw on other engines. Default now on Edge and, once I figure out how to make it default on Brave, it will be there. Thank you for mentioning it.
     
  7. plat

    plat Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2018
    Posts:
    2,233
    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    "IMO, Google gives you the best search results. Just my 2 cents.--Buddel. [Sorry, the "reply" option isn't showing up at the moment.]

    I agree with this, it's always turned out like that when I compare search results between Google and DDG. It's a question of how much I want to compromise my beliefs and principles. Answer: not much. I also don't use Chrome; the fact I have a YouTube account is bad enough.

    The US Dept of Justice is currently suing Google for an illegal monopoly, right? There must be far more evidence not disclosed for such a move to take place. I'll be watching this one for sure.

    Likewise, I'm giving Metager (test version) a whirl on Edge, thanks bellgamin. :) In a couple of searches so far, Bing is a prominent factor. Let's see how it pans out-- it's not "pretty" but it's fast and results are satisfactory. It replaces DDG actually, at least temporarily.
     
  8. itman

    itman Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2010
    Posts:
    8,592
    Location:
    U.S.A.
  9. wat0114

    wat0114 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2012
    Posts:
    4,064
    Location:
    Canada
    My experience and opinion as well.
     
  10. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2002
    Posts:
    8,102
    Location:
    Hawaii
    In addition to DDG, this listing includes Startpage. Startpage was recently acquired by an advertising firm. Hmmm... I wonder about that sort of "marriage" because, in general, the business model of advertising companies is to collect as much private data as possible. Other than Startpage, this is a very helpful list for further research.
     
  11. Spartan

    Spartan Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2016
    Posts:
    1,424
    Location:
    Dubai
    @wat0114

    Right, when it first came out, I was so excited, I like the logo, the name (kinda cute), and the idea that it's a no log private search! Sounds great! Then the excitement fading away slowly, I would search for stuff/terms/guides that I searched with Google before and often times I would get the result I want from the first search result hit or max from the 2nd, with DuckDuckGo, I would either find it dug in like the 2nd or 3rd page in the search results or not even find it at all! Who has time for that? Time is money!

    Also the developers of Pale Moon thought it's cute to put DuckDuckGo as the default search engine in their browser, not that I use Pale Moon anymore since it's incompatible with half of my Firefox extensions but just saying.

    This experience is the same for other search engines as well including Start Page, and even Bing, they are all inferior to Google.
     
  12. Azure Phoenix

    Azure Phoenix Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2014
    Posts:
    1,556
    One of the advantages of DDG are !bang which let me use various search engines, in addition to other things, without the need to change my settings
    https://duckduckgo.com/bang
     
  13. Callender

    Callender Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2015
    Posts:
    172
    Location:
    London UK
    Have a read of this from UR Browser and the search engines it uses with links to each search engine's privacy policy.

    https://www.ur-browser.com/en-US/search-safe

    Note: I downloaded that browser once but after a while it requires upgrade to pro to keep some features.

    My default search engine is Qwant but I revert to Google, DDG at times.
     
  14. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2004
    Posts:
    17,546
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Same over here, I did like their look and feel, but search results were crappy and the page doesn't load smoothly like Google. Is it really that hard to copy Google Search in terms of speed and results and look? Because I'm not impressed by none of the alternatives so far.
     
  15. Callender

    Callender Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2015
    Posts:
    172
    Location:
    London UK
    Try:

    Code:
    https://www.qwant.com/?r=GB&sr=en&l=en_gb&h=0&s=0&a=1&b=1&vt=0&hc=0&smartNews=0&smartSocial=0&theme=0&i=1&donation=0&qoz=0&shb=0&shl=0
    
    Or for file search (uses google) claims to be World's Best Free File Search Engine.
    Code:
    https://www.filechef.com
    
     
  16. Krusty

    Krusty Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
    Posts:
    10,210
    Location:
    Among the gum trees
    I suspect that it is the vast swathe of data from its users that we complain about that give Google its advantage with Google search results.
     
  17. Uitlander

    Uitlander Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 16, 2010
    Posts:
    255
    Location:
    Albany, CA
    Two thumbs up for the erudite answer. I have tried swisscows, but actually reaching their site is hit or miss....not sure if they are down a lot, or it is being blocked by my ISP. I'll find out when I transition to my next PC, as I will have a proxy and DNS changer on the Win 7, and a VPN on the MX Linux. Never found Metager when I was looking for search engines via Google. It looks useful for research, which is mostly what I use search engines for, but not so much for shopping as all results are Euro-based. Thanks for the tip. So I'll assume the link at archive.vn was accurate. I wonder if startpage.com is also hiding any such dirty laundry?
     
  18. Uitlander

    Uitlander Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 16, 2010
    Posts:
    255
    Location:
    Albany, CA
    I would agree. Problem being Google/Chrome suffers from an OCD-like fixation to stop being Lil Bro, and one day grow up to be BigBro....all the while playing lapdog to Big Bro until it can dethrone the Alpha, and take over as pack leader. Everyone needs some ambition, but Pichai & Brin's ambition goes too far. The more speed-bumps we can lay in its path, the better off everyone will be in the long run. Google use, like with Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc., needs to at least be curtailed to limit its growth and influence. Using other search engines as first choice, and Google as last resort, will not kill anyone, but could help everyone.
     
  19. razorboy

    razorboy Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2010
    Posts:
    200
    Location:
    North
    Duckduckgo has been my default search engine for several years now.
     
  20. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2012
    Posts:
    1,155
    Location:
    usa
  21. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2006
    Posts:
    23,940
    Location:
    UK
    It says..
     
  22. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2012
    Posts:
    1,155
    Location:
    usa
    It was just strange that I could not find any information about PreSearch at WildersSecurity.
     
  23. zmechys

    zmechys Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2012
    Posts:
    1,155
    Location:
    usa
    I've just tried your recommendation, but...
    I can't take that ...!

    I've tried to search for Coronavirus cases in Texas with your recommended Metager.

    And I've got the following "ads".
    Sorry, but it's unacceptable!

    Megater.JPG


    And here are the results with Presearch of the same search.

    Presearch.JPG
     
  24. drhu22

    drhu22 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2010
    Posts:
    585
    In Firefox Ive been using Mycroft search plugins... right now I have 5 search engines and 26 various sites loaded to search from directly. You could manually add search engines and sites(?), but this is far easier.

    You can use the search bar or the address bar which both drop down your list of search engines and sites as you begin to type, or you can drag selected text to the search bar (my preference).

    https://mycroftproject.com/

    https://i.postimg.cc/q0FXyH7T/Untitled.jpg

    Edit: Only for Firefox as far as I know, so Im hoping they will add Chrome capability, or for someone to create an extension (hint?)
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2021
  25. Surt

    Surt Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2019
    Posts:
    471
    Location:
    USA
    The link

    https://metager.org/partner/r?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dylanscandybar.com%2Fjessica-biel.html&affillink=https%3A%2F%2Futkv6nyu.de%2Fredir%2FclickGate.php%3Fu%3D338b9Bnm%26p%3DZMkW9eSKJS%26m%3D12%26s%3D%26r%3D%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.dylanscandybar.com%252Fjessica-biel.html&password=dfd332b3052f95fbc696054030ca5e37570089cefb870e1fc174bcb2e7e09d8f

    redirects utkv6nyu.de to www.shareasale.com then www.dylanscandybar.com which opens a generic product page announcing "Oops - We couldn't find that one."

    "That one" being the Jessica Biel candy bar...

    Wilders-metager.jpg
     
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.