Is DuckDuckGo A Good Search Engine?
Imagine a search engine that does not track you or gather the data. All the information traces you make as you utilize it disappear right away, and you can browse privately and safely.
In the era of data farming and big tech, that sounds like a fantasy, right?
But, thanks to DuckDuckGo, which is a privacy-oriented search engine, you no longer have to depend on Google. So
what’s DuckDuckGo?
How does it work?
And
is DuckDuckGo good and safe?
Also check: Is Dogpile A Good Search Engine?
What Is DuckDuckGo?
It’s a search engine particularly created for users who desire to protect their privacy while utilizing the internet.
Unlike any other search engine, DuckDuckGo strictly limits the personal data it gathers. That makes it an outstanding choice for users who desire to keep their information private.
DuckDuckGo summarizes the services with the straightforward motto: Same Internet, more privacy.
While DuckDuckGo is not the most popular search engine in the world, it does have an impressively huge user base.
In 2021, it facilitated more than 3 billion searches monthly and assisted users with over 5 million downloads on desktop PCs and mobile applications.
Its users are also satisfied with the search engine, as DuckDuckGo enjoys an average rating of 4.8 on Google and Apple Play stores.
How Does DuckDuckGo Work?
To protect anonymity online, DuckDuckGo utilizes a strict pledge that assures the IP address will never be recorded.
It actually supports an encrypted HTTPS version, which eradicates the likelihood of search leakage and 3rd-party cookies being saved in the user’s web browser.
Searching on any device, be it a desktop, laptop, or mobile phone will always be a private and secure experience for you.
DuckDuckGo is mainly a search engine, but it also provides downloadable programs and internet browser add-ons for each well-known platform and browser.
A Brief History:
Entrepreneur Gabriel Weinberg established DuckDuckGo back in 2008. Weinberg created DuckDuckGo as a substitute for mainstream search engines such as Yahoo and Google.
While the search engine did not attain overnight success, it did grow in popularity fast. By the end of 2008, it got to the homepage of popular platforms such as Reddit and Hacker News.
Over the next few years, it became well-known through numerous vital campaigns.
Such comprised making all web browsing through DuckDuckGo anonymous, the DontTrack.us site, and the well-known billboard advertisement saying, Google tracks you. We do not.
After the success of such campaigns, its user base increased.
Back in 2012, the search engine reached 1 million searches every day. It’d then hit 2 million and ten million searches every day in 2013 and 2015, respectively.
Because of its growing popularity, Mozilla, Apple, and even Google appended DuckDuckGo as a search engine choice in their web browsers.
After improved scrutiny of surveillance capitalism, this search engine is presently experiencing a peak in fame. Between 2018 and 2020, it doubled its volume from twenty-five billion to fifty billion searches.
When individuals first learn about DuckDuckGo, they frequently raise their eyebrows at the name. The name DuckDuckGo is not related to search engines. Weinberg named his search engine after the kids’ game called Duck Duck Goose.
Is DuckDuckGo A VPN?
DuckDuckGo isn’t a VPN; it just does not track you in the same manner that Google does (remember, even if you are utilizing Incognito Mode, the search history isn’t completely private).
If you desire to browse the internet safely, combine DuckDuckGo with any VPN, which will wrap the traffic in encryption and protect the IP address.
Is DuckDuckGo Safe To Utilize And Private?
DuckDuckGo prioritizes user privacy. Firstly, the search’s anonymity is the main selling point of DuckDuckGo.
It has taken a lot of steps to make sure that its software is as open as possible so that people can assess its dependability for themselves.
As part of this pledge to openness, DuckDuckGo has published some of the source code for the apps and extensions on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 License.
A good part of their systems was created utilizing free, open-source software (FOSS). This openness assures a dependable system for all participants.
Simply put, DuckDuckGo does not keep a record of personal data or monitor search habits.
Also, it does not keep a record of the previous queries, so it is like beginning from scratch each time you utilize it.
While it results in the auto-suggest feature being disabled, that is a small cost to disburse for a more discreet online experience.
In general, DuckDuckGo is a better choice than Bing or Google. Statistics show that eighty million users have utilized this platform for accessing the internet, so it’s obviously gaining traction.
Over thirty-five billion queries were answered by the internet browser in 2021 alone. It is clear that DuckDuckGo is gaining ground as a dependable search engine with a rising user base.
Can You Get A Virus From DuckDuckGo?
DuckDuckGo is a comparatively safe search engine, and you can utilize it without compromising security.
As with any other internet browser, DuckDuckGo is susceptible to malware, viruses, and online threats.
Whether or not you will get infected very much relies on common sense and on what you decide to do online.
How Does DuckDuckGo Make Money?
Obviously, DuckDuckGo still needs to monetize the operations somehow, so it still utilizes advertisements based on keywords you enter.
If you look for cat food, the advertisements on DuckDuckGo’s search page might reflect that. However, the service would not remember that you looked up the cat food once you went to a new page.
It also utilizes affiliate codes and earns commissions when a user purchases a product after searching using DuckDuckGo, or through their marketing content.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of DuckDuckGo:
Advantages:
- Simply To Use User Interface:
DuckDuckGo’s UI is easy to use and straightforward.
- Advertisement-Free Web Browsing:
While it doesn’t track you, it does make cash from ads.
The advertisements you see while searching are all based on the terms you type in for the search query. That said, you can utilize extensions to prevent advertisements at any time.
- No Targeted Search Results:
Unlike Google, the search results of DuckDuckGo do not change or force any search result to show associated or more relevant page results.
It can also filter out false data and low-quality content automatically. Everybody will get the same results.
- No Tracking And Improved Privacy:
DuckDuckGo has no tracking. It doesn’t create or keep any information that can be utilized for identifying you through online searches.
Apart from that, privacy is the main selling point of search engines. It cannot pass the data to 3rd parties for advertising purposes.
Disadvantages:
- Fewer Services:
DuckDuckGo does not provide as many services as any other search engine. You do not have the same resources as the Google Play store, maps, or Gmail access.
- No Search History:
As DuckDuckGo provides private search, it doesn’t save the search history or provide personalized search suggestions.
How To Utilize DuckDuckGo?
To utilize DuckDuckGo, you could either:
- First of all, launch the internet browser preferences/settings and set DuckDuckGo as the default search engine.
- After that, download the web browser extension (accessible on Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera).
- Install the Android or iOS app.
You get more privacy features with the mobile application and the web browser extension, but if you simply desire to give it the test drive, go to duckduckgo.com and look for something. Then compare the search results with the ones from Google.
How DuckDuckGo Compares To Other Search Engines?
If you contemplate checking out DuckDuckGo, you might be wondering how it compares to Yahoo, Bing, and Google.
Is DuckDuckGo Better Than Google?
In the DuckDuckGo vs. Google debate, everything relies on priorities.
You will be sacrificing a little of the convenience Google Search provides, but you will have a more private, safer experience. If you value privacy, DuckDuckGo is better.
Obviously, it’s difficult to evade Google, and it is likely that most of the accounts are already synced with it.
DuckDuckGo provides an outstanding opportunity to minimize its usage, however, and it is awesome to support a service that provides a more transparent search experience.
Since DuckDuckGo does not track the users, nonentity knows how a lot of individuals actually utilize this web browser.
Each time you look for something online, you get the same results as the other users.
Google actually does the opposite: it profiles users and offers results relying on the search history. Not to state dozens of irrelevant advertisements that will follow you after each search query.
DuckDuckGo Vs. Bing:
Bing is not as well-liked as Google, but it is still an awesome search engine. Bing has very advanced picture search features, Bing applications, an explorer panel, and Bing Rebates as part of the MS Rewards program.
DuckDuckGo’s image search features do not measure up to Bing’s, but it does provide anonymous web browsing.
DuckDuckGo Vs. Yahoo:
Yahoo is a really customizable search engine. It permits people to adjust the UI to their tastes, and it provides personalized ads.
Yahoo Search also works great with other Yahoo products, such as Yahoo Mail and Yahoo News. However, Yahoo is not as good as Google and Bing in providing video and image content.
DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and Bing are comparable in search engine functionality, but the top choice for you will rely on your online habits and privacy tastes.
Why Do You Require A VPN Too?
Keeping the online experience private is paramount for people who desire to surf online safely. Fortunately, safeguarding online privacy does not have to be complicated.
All it takes is the NordVPN program, which is accessible on all major platforms. Here is what a VPN can assist you with:
Evading Online Threats:
While DuckDuckGo provides you with privacy on the search engine level, it does not protect you from any other online threats.
Social media platforms or individual sites can still track you and gather the information, while cybercriminals can target users with social engineering attacks.
Improving The Security:
We strongly advise you to utilize a good VPN. With NordVPN, all the online traffic is encrypted when it leaves the device.
This service will also hide the IP, so nobody can utilize it to locate the location. Combining DuckDuckGo with NordVPN offers a genuinely private and secure internet browsing experience.
The Threat Protection feature of NordVPN will also stop you from landing on malicious sites, assist you in identifying malware-ridden files, and block intrusive advertisements and trackers on the spot.
Protecting The Internet Traffic:
Also, the traffic stays unencrypted on DuckDuckGo, so somebody can interrupt it, see the IP address, spy on the traffic, and intercept the private data.
Whatever default search engine you are utilizing, the ISP (internet service provider) can still see what you are doing and can share this information with 3rd parties.
Even worse, if you are utilizing unsecured Wi-Fi, a cybercriminal could view the activity from afar and steal your personal data.
Frequently Asked Questions Section:
Q: Does DuckDuckGo Save The Search History?
No, DuckDuckGo does not store the search history, but the internet browser does. Anybody with access to the PC can see the searches in the web browsing history.
You have to switch to Incognito mode to prevent the web browser from storing the search history. That, or utilize a private web browser.
Like this, you dump the search history each time you close a session, and nobody can sneak around the history later.
Q: Can You Browse The Dark Web Using DuckDuckGo?
Yes, you can browse the dark web using DuckDuckGo because, unlike the majority of search engines, it also shows the more popular onion links or the dark web.
To stay safe on the journeys through the dark web, protect yourself using a VPN. That way, not even the internet service provider can see where you are heading or where you have been.
Q: How Does DuckDuckGo Make Money?
DuckDuckGo makes money in two ways:
- Advertising: It shows you an advertisement based on what you looked for.
- Affiliate Revenue: When you purchase something from eBay or Amazon after getting there using DuckDuckGo’s search results or marketing, the business gets a small commission.
If advertisements irritate you, utilize a VPN with the content block feature enabled to block the majority of them. (You will locate the content blocker feature under Privacy Settings).
Q: Should You Utilize A VPN With DuckDuckGo?
It is a great idea, yes. A VPN does more than a private internet browser or a private search engine combined for keeping you safe with military-grade, system-wide encryption.
Q: Is DuckDuckGo Owned By Google?
Nope, founder Gabriel Weinberg still owns DuckDuckGo. Google might be tempted to buy DuckDuckGo to attempt to destroy the competition, but so far, no deal.
Summary:
DuckDuckGo is an awesome Yahoo, Bing, and Google alternative for anybody who desires to utilize the internet anonymously.
While DuckDuckGo’s search engine is not as robust as Google’s, it works fine for the majority of everyday queries.
Furthermore, it provides unique privacy features that protect the information from other search engines, sites, and any malicious parties.
For us, the top DuckDuckGo features are its advertisement-blocking web browser extension, privacy grades, untracked browsing, Tor exit enclave, and Burn Bar.
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