Anyone using DuckDuckGo...

[rick gen]

...for a search engine?

Seems Google has become a massive miner of personal infos.
Yahoo is probably getting there, but not as callous as Google.

[Moem]

...for a search engine?

Seems Google has become a massive miner of personal infos.

That's been going on for quite a while.

I use https://startpage.com and I'm quite happy with it. Worth a try, I'd say.

[Citizen229]

I find DDG to be better at giving me what I want. Everytime I use google, I have to scroll through atleast 1 page of advertisement links related to my search query. Yahoo search atleast label the ads as sponsored links under the url, and there is only 4 or 5 of them.

[Hoser Rob]

Sometimes DDG but usually Startpage HTTPS. I just find that the latter gives me better results. Am I the only Chrome user who almost never uses Google to search?

For me it isn't so much a privacy issue. WHat bugs me more about Google is that they place sites that use Google ads higher in the search ranking. So I get a lot of crap commercail sites/blogs when I'm looking for relevant info.

[Bolle1961]

yep, from the beginning, 2007 / 2008? Somewhere around that time.
In the beginning was google better, but the last years I only use DDG

[slipstick]

I've used only startpage (formerly called ixquick) for many years - no complaints.

[Cosmo.]

The problem with DDG is, that the server are placed in the US.

[benchrest]

I use dog

[sammiev]

+1 to Startpage. Been using it for many years now.

[sphyrth]

I mainly use DDG for its !bang commands. I think that people started losing trust on it once its devs announced its Partnership with Yahoo, even with this promises to keep things private.

[Pierre]

generally it's usually DDG or Startpage, & if I've not already modified the search engine list.

[rick gen]

Google probably knows more about you than you do about yourself.

[Moem]

Also in the US, by Law the NSA has to have backdoor access to all Commercially used Encryption... and you might take note if you are not already aware of this that this makes VPN's virtually pointless.

Just the ones that operate in the US.

[Neil Edmond]

Yeah, I usually use DuckDuckGo, or StartPage.

[majpooper]

You are not going to hide from the NSA but I doubt they are selling your data to big corporations or impacting what ads you are seeing on line - but you can bet Google is. DDG claims they don't track you but who knows. As far as VPN goes I suppose it is useless, again, in terms of hiding but I think the encryption for almost all the hops (not sure about the last one) affords some additional level of protection for online banking and shopping.

[vladtepes]

You are not going to hide from the NSA but I doubt they are selling your data to big corporations or impacting what ads you are seeing on line -

although it probably is worth worrying if you are getting ads for holidays to sunny Guantanomo Bay, Cuba....

[Vanilla Lumina]

DuckDuckGo doesn't seem to find what I'm looking for all the time, and something tells me it builds part of its results from Bing's search, but the !bang system is definitely an innovative idea and I like it.

[Citizen229]

Dont forget on top of that. In the US your can get prepaid cards at walmart and other retailers. You can load up the specific amount you want to spend. Anything over that amount will get rejected. It has the abilities of a credit card online, without someone being able to get your info and maxing out a credit limit. Even if someone does get your number string, they will have a hard time trying to buy things with the few cents positive balance on the card.

[thom_A]

You are not going to hide from the NSA but I doubt they are selling your data to big corporations or impacting what ads you are seeing on line - but you can bet Google is.

Interesting way to put it nonchalantly. Like one is more benign than the other. Yeah, invade Joe Citizen's privacy all you want uncle Sam as long as you're not selling his data!

[Portreve]

You are not going to hide from the NSA but I doubt they are selling your data to big corporations or impacting what ads you are seeing on line - but you can bet Google is.

Interesting way to put it nonchalantly. Like one is more benign than the other. Yeah, invade Joe Citizen's privacy all you want uncle Sam as long as you're not selling his data!

If I could put it any better, I would.

I can't; therefore, I won't.