I have used SearXNG for a while, but I switched to LibreX after the search engine started glitching. Recently, though, LibreX has stopped returning any results. I am currently on Mojeek, but the results aren’t that great.
I have also tried Qwant, but I wasn’t too keen on it. Startpage will be impractical, as I use a VPN and this engine often blocks me because of it. I don’t want to use Brave Search for a number of reasons. MetaGer has too many important features behind its paywall. I’m not sure about DuckDuckGo, but I could use it if there was no other option.
Any suggestions, or am I being too picky?
Why are people so against DDG here? Just wondering because I use it and think it’s fine
Anything US based should be avoided.
General good practice
US-based meaning 3 letter agencies can get your data without a court order and that you aren’t protected by the GDPR if you don’t live in the EU
They track their users, even though not tracking users is supposed to be their thing.
DDG is basically Bing
I’m not sure this is really a solvable problem but at the end of the day, DuckDuckGo is a for profit corporation. Privacy is more of a marketing angle than something they actually care about. Last year they allowed Microsoft to track mobile users of their “privacy focused” browser which is obviously against their stated purpose for existing. They backtracked after facing backlash but it’s done lasting damage to their reputation. They also got caught by a security researcher, they weren’t at all upfront about it. I think that’s enough to shatter any hope that they are genuine or trustworthy.
Because it’s just a proxy for Bing, with all the pitfalls of that.
I’m wondering the same. ddg has been great for me.
US is a big red flag
I think they got bought out by Microsoft or something, so naturally people are weary of it now.
They use bing results but they most certainly weren’t bought by Microsoft. They have a deal with Microsoft to use their results without tracking. At least to my knowledge. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
They had been contractually obligated to allow certain MS ad cookies/trackers as part of a big money deal, but I believe they were able to get those requirements removed and it’s actually zero trackers now.
Oh right, thanks I wasn’t sure I just knew they made some deal with Microsoft
I primarily use DuckDuckGo, and occasionally have to use a !bang to get to the Startpage or Google.
This, I used DDG !bang a lot, !git, !yt, !g, !alt
Not that it is a deal-breaker, but this functionality is also built into Chromium browsers if you right click the address bar and select ‘manage search engines’
If SearXNG worked for you, why not use a more stable instance?
I’ve been enjoying Kagi but it’s not for everyone.
Add a proxy to your browser and you should get through on Startpage.
Been a happy Kagi user for 6+ months now. No more Pinterest and other blogspam in my searches
Aren’t they fundamentally anti privacy? You have to be logged in so they can correlate literally everything you search for or click on with a credit card number and real name…
Yeah. I don’t think something that requires payment is inherently private. Even when paying for a service with something like Monero, you are still required to log into an account to use it.
By that logic all vpns are inherently anti-privacy, which isn’t true. Especially if you are using your real static ip, a regular search engine would be no better of a result as it pertains to data leakage.
You could absolutely have a profile built about you on a VPN. VPNs don’t necessarilly have to be telling the truth when they say they don’t keep logs. You are entrusting the VPN with all of your internet traffic, which just passes the responsability from the ISP to the VPN provider.
I do use a VPN, but I am aware of its flaws.
Tor and/or I2P is what people should be using if they require absolute privacy (like if they’re a whistleblower).
You’re stating exactly what I did in a long winded manner. There is clear proof that multiple vpns at the moment are not logging sensitive information and that some are.
So to state blanketly that paying for a service is less private, than not, is incorrect. There is more nuance to it than that. Which is all that I was pointing out.
Tor/I2p is what you add on top if you want anonymity, which can still expose you on an exit node if you’re: sending sensitive information, using a device connected to you, or using a static IP address.
They ask a bit of trust on that, but their FAQ also has an appeal to reason:
I have privacy concerns over linking my search queries with my credit card. Why should I trust you?
We do not log search queries. Queries you type are never associated with your account. The simple reason is we don’t have any reason to do so, as it would only be a liability for us. We are in the business of selling search results, not user data.
(For the record, I use Kagi)
That’s asking for a hell of a lot of trust in them… wouldn’t be the first, or last, time companies lie about these things.
If you’re dumb enough to use a card that is connected to you, your real name, an email connected to you, or expose your IP; then it’s possible. There’s no way to know for sure they’re not logging until they receive a court ordered request for information.
What issues did you have with SearXNG?
You could try to self host it, or even just run it on your local machine.
Shameless plug on how to set it up locally, and how to set up custom filters (to block junk websites and redirect reddit to the old interface).
It stopped returning results. I tried other instances: same problems. However, I think the issue may have been fixed.
I am currently on an iPhone, and I’m not really in a position to self-host (although I did try to set up a FreedomBox the other day).
Ah fair enough.
I started by having it on my laptop, and used it only there. Liked it so much that I’m renting a VPS around $5 a month to have it on all my devices.
But to be fair, I’m also hosting other things on that VPS (SearXNG is very light), so it’s multi-purpose.
Who do you like for VPS hosting?
I recommend Oracle Cloud Always Free - 4 Arm cores, 24GB RAM, 200GB storage. I’ve used it before they sanctioned Russia and it worked fine (but if hardware fails your data will stay but you will be at the bottom of the queue for replacement)
Hetzner.
I used it for a while but could not find good results for any kind of advanced query. Qwant in comparison is slightly better but still worse than duckduckgo unfortunately. For really niche stuff I still need to revert to Google…
You can get both qwant, duckduckgo, and Google with SearXNG, unless the instance you used had a config to not have them as an option…
That’s why I just prefer to use my own.
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some here won’t like the idea of a premium, private search engine but Kagi is one of the best tech discoveries I’ve made in a long time. I pay $5/month for 300 searches and always seem to hit the limit at the very end of my month, never payed the 1.5 cents per search after that.
can you explain more on why it’s worth that subscription?
You can sign up for a trial with 100 searches.
As for what is good, searches tend to pull up relevant info that is not buried under a bunch of seo shit. You can block, downgrade, and upgrade domains (I have blocked Pinterest from all my search results for instance). It’s just a very good experience. And long term I feel more confident in their user experience since their profit motivation is not tied to serving you up ads.
My biggest complaint is the 300 searches a month seems a little low.
But give the 100 free searches a shot. I have been very happy with them.
thanks. yea seems strange to limit searches
I use Startpage, it’s based within the EU and a proxy for Google results!
Vpn block…
What?
It was mentioned in OP’s post: Startpage tends to block those coming in from VPNs.
You’re right, I’ve totally read over it. Sorry :) Can’t imagine a VPN is blocking it as I use it all the time, with and without a VPN. Maybe it’s your VPN provider?
I also use StartPage (always with a VPN) and have <1% of my searches blocked. I’m sure there is some logic as to why the occasional search doesn’t get through, but I haven’t been able to work it out.
Same. Changing servers or even just the query tends to work, but most of the times there’s an option to fill a short “VPN form”, solve a captcha, and it works again. So this tells me they’re mostly interested in blocking automated traffic.
Why wpuld they do that? Unless they want to track you…
Because VPN IP addresses are commonly associated with malicious activity.
Google results
which these days are very very bad! especially if you search something tech/programming related.
I don’t want to use Brave Search for a number of reasons.
Mind sharing? I’m curious because I switched to DDG several days ago, after a good while of using Brave. My reasons were:
- defaulting to Moderate safe search every couple of days
- inability to provide me with good results for simple ‘[word] wiktionary’ queries
- having to block some elements of their result templates manually, using their own browser’s filtering feature (featured snippets, definitions etc)
- poorer search results compared to what they were a year, two ago
Some people here mentioned Kagi and I liked it a lot when I was beta-testing it, but I will only start paying for using it when they introduce full support for Boolean operators, which most likely means never.
I don’t like Brave as a company. Brendan Eich is an arsehole, Brave Browser has had (minor, but numerous) controversies, their crypto stuff is off-putting, and now they’re sticking their new AI into everything.
Can anyone else endorse this? Looking for an alternative to duckduckgo. Thanks
Try Brave search
I have to say I used Random Searx a lot, startpage as Backup. And as VPNs are getting mainstream, it gets a pain in the ass. Mullvad Leta sucks too kinda. Now I use duckduckgo alone and actually never need my specially configured SearXNG search providers, although useful.
I have to say, I use a lot of search engines. Using the “Add custom search” Addon on Firefox you can easily add any URL containing a search word to your browser.
I maintain some lists of search engines that need updating.
I use Brave Search, it’s quite good imo
Brave
Its surprisingly good… I rarely need anything else
I use MetaGer as my daily driver and you.com for deeper niche searches
Qwant and kagi have been a great pair. Brave search was good, but they had some controversy a bit back.
I’d say give SearXNG another try. Whats the issue exactly?
I used SearXNG for over a month but found myself routinely returning to Google for either tech problem searches or because it was returning irrelevant results for homonyms.
I would love to return to it. Do you have any tips for better search results?
- Depending on your language, use language codes like
:enor:de. Very important if your native language isn’t English. - You can choose the search engine using DDG shebangs like
!g(or redirect yourself to Google using!!g - If SearxNG using Google gives you much worse results, it just means Google has that much info about you. Nonetheless, that’s not my experience
- Depending on your language, use language codes like
