I switched from Google to DuckDuckGo’s private search: 5 big takeaways

Google is way and away the most well-liked search engine—however generally it could really feel extra like Big Brother and fewer like a pleasant assistant. Indeed, for these involved about privateness, Google oversteps some boundaries by gathering your private knowledge, and serving you adverts based mostly on what it collects. Enter DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine with its personal desktop extension and cellular browser app.

DuckDuckGo touts itself because the anti-Google, promising to not monitor or acquire your knowledge. It gives a clear interface and acquainted format, and supplies most of the options you’ve come to anticipate from a search engine—however with out these invasive knowledge trackers. (If privateness is a priority of yours, additionally think about switching from Google Chrome to Firefox.)

On paper, DuckDuckGo looks as if a worthy competitor. But how does it actually stack as much as Google? To discover out, I switched to DuckDuckGo and used the service completely for per week. Here are my 5 key takeaways.

1. DuckDuckGo is refreshing

DuckDuckGo’s privateness options shocked me with how liberating they really feel. The service insists that it doesn’t acquire consumer knowledge or monitor you throughout completely different web sites. It additionally doesn’t affiliate your searching along with your IP tackle, and received’t save your search historical past.

For somebody who has used Google most of his grownup life, this feels oddly refreshing. I barely bear in mind a time when my each transfer wasn’t tracked, analyzed, after which marketed again to me by means of focused options and adverts. 

Using DuckDuckGo introduced me again to a less complicated time when a search engine was solely there to reply questions like, “What is the best laptop under $1000?” or “What was Tim Robbins’ character’s nickname in Top Gun?” (It was Merlin.)

Privacy is the largest draw of DuckDuckGo, and it applies it in a means that doesn’t really feel limiting. The whole time I used to be utilizing the search engine, I didn’t really feel inconvenienced by the dearth of personalization. Unlike Google, DuckDuckGo received’t auto-suggest new searches as a result of it doesn’t acquire your search historical past, however this felt like a small value to pay for extra non-public searching.

Another refreshing privateness characteristic: DuckDuckGo actively blocks exterior trackers from following you round on-line. So, not solely does the service itself preserve your searching non-public, it additionally prevents third events from monitoring you as nicely.

2. DuckDuckGo has an excellent UI

Before I began utilizing DuckDuckGo, I had this picture of a bare-bones search engine, a la early 2000s Google. It proved me mistaken. Very mistaken. The DuckDuckGo designers have put quite a lot of thought into usability, and it exhibits. The interface is aesthetically pleasing with a clear and easy format that doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel.

Make no mistake, DuckDuckGo has the same really feel to Google (however then once more, so do all trendy engines like google). Elements comparable to advert placements and information panels are ripped straight from Google. This isn’t essentially a knock on DuckDuckGo, nevertheless. The engine’s “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” strategy to design works completely nicely. 

They’ve even cleaned it up a bit and added some welcome adjustments. For occasion, DuckDuckGo doesn’t break up outcomes throughout pages. Rather, while you attain the underside of a web page, you may simply click on “See more results” in an countless scroll. This is a minor tweak, nevertheless it felt higher than clicking backwards and forwards by means of pages and pages.

3. Yes, you may escape from adverts

This form of goes together with the primary level on this checklist: Since DuckDuckGo doesn’t monitor your searching historical past, it can not offer you focused customized adverts.

As you utilize its providers, Google creates a profile on you based mostly on private knowledge, comparable to your search habits and buying historical past. This knowledge is then utilized to advert concentrating on, resulting in extremely particular adverts popping up on seemingly each web site you go to. For instance, after I searched Google for stuffed toys to purchase for my younger nephew’s birthday, each web site I visited for the following few weeks saved exhibiting me Pokemon plushies of their banner ads.

But I had none of those identical commercial hauntings whereas utilizing DuckDuckGo. When I looked for one thing, the outcomes web page would present only some associated ads alongside the right-hand facet, or above the primary outcomes. These adverts have been solely related to what I used to be looking out, and by no means adopted me round whereas searching different web sites. In truth, whereas utilizing DuckDuckGo, I observed fewer ads typically. In a day and age after we’re continuously bombarded with flashing adverts and pop-ups, this made for a extremely nice searching expertise.

Sam Singleton

4. You’ll commerce some search smarts for privateness

Google is nice for locating issues I simply can’t fairly bear in mind. I enter a couple of random details that I do bear in mind, and it’ll often will give me the reply. When I attempted these identical kinds of searches with DuckDuckGo, it simply didn’t have the algorithms (or knowledge?) to ship. 

In the screenshot beneath, you may see that I used to be searching for the title of a film (Men Who Stare at Goats) based mostly on a random scene. Since I didn’t know the film’s title, I as a substitute searched utilizing “film george clooney do you have superpowers scene”. Google returned the film I used to be searching for on the primary consequence, whereas DuckDuckGo merely couldn’t discover it. Now this can be a somewhat particular instance, however customers have come to depend on Google delivering nice outcomes with sparse inputs.

Sam Singleton

Of course, one of many major causes Google is so efficient is that it collects and shops consumer knowledge, after which tailors it for personalization. Without tapping into a large library of contextual knowledge, DuckDuckGo will proceed to fall behind Google in returned consequence accuracy.

5. I actually miss Google maps

After completely utilizing DuckDuckGo for per week, I can say that I formally miss the way in which Google search seamlessly hooks into Google maps. Sure, DuckDuckGo has a maps characteristic supplied by Apple, nevertheless it isn’t the identical. Just like after I’m utilizing an iPhone, I want to make use of Google Maps somewhat than the pre-installed Apple Maps. It simply feels higher by way of the obtainable knowledge and its reliability.

Sam Singleton

Something else I missed is direct entry to all the Google ecosystem. Both in my private {and professional} life, I’ve come to depend on Google apps comparable to Drive and Google Workspaces. Google has completed a terrific job connecting all of their options seamlessly collectively. Not having the ability to combine these with my search engine expertise felt like I used to be lacking a chunk of the puzzle.

Will I swap to DuckDuckGo completely? Should you?

Should you turn to DuckDuckGo? It depends upon what you need out of your search engine. Do you worth privateness above all else? Then go forward and make the swap. Do you need essentially the most correct outcomes and most superior options? Then you’ll need to keep on with Google.  

As for me, I plan to proceed utilizing DuckDuckGo. I’m a jaded millennial and I grew up within the age of web knowledge monitoring. I had way back accepted that my privateness could be sacrificed for extra correct outcomes. But what I discovered from this little experiment was that, for essentially the most half, what we’re all looking for on-line is fairly easy and easy. 

While Google is ready to precisely guess what you’re searching for, a bit extra hand-holding is required with DuckDuckGo. This doesn’t imply that DuckDuckGo can’t discover what you’re after. It simply implies that you could have to change your search parameters. The streamlined Google internet searching I’ve change into accustomed to through cookies, auto-fill, and personalization are in fact a comfort. But with out these bells and whistles, the outcomes are largely the identical.

And I determine, if the outcomes are the identical, why not err on the facet of privateness?