Google alternatives are everywhere, but are they any good?

To reply this question, we researched a fewer fashionable alternate hunt engines. Our main judging criterion is however each hunt motor fared successful its committedness to protecting idiosyncratic information and privacy. 

Here are the ones that got our approval:

Startpage is efficaciously Google without the tracking. 

According to the Netherlands-based hunt engine, your queries are anonymized earlier hunt results are pulled from Google. This means each identifying accusation is blanketed, including your IP address. No tracking cookies are utilized either.

Startpage besides complies with GDPR, a European Union regularisation that protects users’ data. Still, you should cognize the state is portion of the Nine Eyes quality alliance, which shares wide surveillance information with 8 countries.

Feature spotlight

The “Anonymous View” diagnostic lets you sojourn websites from your hunt results anonymously for some desktop and mobile. It fundamentally behaves similar a (free) VPN.

DuckDuckGo is easy the astir well-known backstage hunt motor around—and the antithesis to Google erstwhile it comes to favoring idiosyncratic privacy. 

Your hunt past is saved successful a non-identifiable manner. This means tracking cookies and idiosyncratic identifiers, specified arsenic IP addresses, are not stored.

Despite the information that DuckDuckGo’s results are pulled from over 400 sources (including Microsoft’s Bing), DuckDuckGo assures its users that it doesn’t stock immoderate idiosyncratic accusation with them. 

The aforesaid applies to DuckAssist—a caller benignant of InstantAnswers successful DuckDuckGo’s SERPs—powered by ample connection models from OpenAI and Anthropic. DuckDuckGo says it doesn’t stock immoderate information with the 2 contented partners.

A imaginable downside for DuckDuckGo is that it’s based successful the U.S., which conducts wide surveillance programs similar PRISM. (The U.S. is besides portion of the Five Eyes.)

Feature spotlight

DuckDuckGo’s “Bangs” diagnostic takes you straight to hunt results connected different sites. For example, typing “!w” and a keyword similar “singapore” (i.e., “!w singapore”) takes you straight to Wikipedia’s leafage for Singapore.

Brave Search is portion of Brave Software, which makes Brave, a privacy-focused browser. Its founders see Brendan Eich (creator of JavaScript and co-founder of browser Mozilla Firefox) and Brian Bondy (former elder level technologist astatine Mozilla). 

While it utilized to beryllium reliant connected Google and Bing for its SERPs, it’s present moved connected to implicit hunt independence. Every web effect is present served by its ain index.

For much privacy, you tin take to crook this toggle disconnected and behaviour manual searches, e.g., “things to bash successful [location].”

A happening to note, though: In 2020, Brave was caught automatically adding affiliate links to cryptocurrency URLs. I’ll permission it up to you to determine whether it really made a mistake and whether it’s rehabilitated its reputation.

Feature spotlight

Like Bing and Google Bard, Brave has a caller AI diagnostic (“Summariser”) that provides concise and to-the-point answers.

Swisscows is simply a Switzerland-based hunt motor that has its ain scale for German-language queries. For each different languages, results are pulled from Bing. But this isn’t an issue, fixed that each hunt queries are stripped of idiosyncratic identifiers.

The hunt motor besides omits the usage of tracking cookies and geo-targeting.

Swisscows’ unsocial selling proposition (USP) is family-friendliness: It automatically filters retired convulsive and pornographic hunt results.

As acold arsenic privateness goes, Switzerland is not portion of an quality alliance, but it does person a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the U.S.

Feature spotlight

Swisscows has euphony search, which is powered by Soundcloud.

MetaGer is simply a Germany-based, open-source metasearch engine. Its servers tally connected renewable energy.

Results are pulled from Scopia, Bing, OneNewspage, and OneNewspage (Video), truthful they’re beauteous timely. You tin besides deselect the hunt engines utilized oregon make a blacklist of websites successful the settings.

We similar however transparent MetaGer is successful its handling of idiosyncratic information, from queries to maps. Still, it’s not without caveats: The hunt motor stores your afloat IP code for 96 hours, and your sanction and email code are kept if you capable retired its interaction form.

However, it does usage an anonymizing proxy that ensures you clasp afloat power implicit your data.

Feature spotlight

The “Did you know” container (to the close of hunt results) offers tidbits astir MetaGer and however to refine your searches. You tin besides click connected the substance to presumption the full database of tips.

Mojeek is simply a crawler-based hunt motor with its ain hunt scale of implicit 6 cardinal pages. This makes it fantabulous for unbiased information. But it besides means determination whitethorn beryllium constricted results, arsenic it doesn’t propulsion results from different hunt engines.

It was the archetypal hunt motor to person a no-tracking policy. Your idiosyncratic information volition besides ne'er beryllium sold oregon distributed, which is simply a immense positive successful our books. If you’ve filled retired its interaction form, you tin petition to person the accusation deleted too, arsenic per the GDPR.

All that said, Mojeek is based successful the U.K., which is portion of the Five Eyes quality alliance.

Feature spotlight

The emotion-based hunt classification diagnostic allows you to participate a keyword and hunt by emotion.

Qwant is simply a Paris-based hunt motor whose hunt results are powered by Bing and its ain web crawler. It’s afloat accessible successful implicit 30 countries but, alas, not Singapore.

Qwant claims to beryllium private, and it says it doesn’t way your geolocation, cod data, oregon usage tracking cookies. However, it keeps your IP code for fraud detection purposes. Also, since 2016, Qwant started sending information to Microsoft Bing Ads without the informed consent of its users. It lone disclosed this successful mid-2021.

While Qwant offers GDPR protection, France is portion of the Nine Eyes quality alliance.

Feature spotlight

Qwant offers a “maps” diagnostic without tracking.

Did you cognize each enactment you instrumentality connected your integer instrumentality emits c dioxide? And Google plays a large portion successful it: It’s accountable for ~40% of the internet’s c footprint.

To counteract this, backstage hunt motor Ecosia donates 80% of its profits to tree-planting projects, oregon astir 1 histrion for each 45 searches made. It has besides built a star plant truthful that its servers tin tally connected clean power.

Ecosia isn’t afloat private. It collects hunt information and personally identifiable information, some of which are lone anonymized aft 7 days. But we reckon utilizing the hunt motor is simply a worthy trade-off, arsenic it seeks to tackle clime change.

Feature spotlight

Your fig of searches is shown connected a scoreboard (unless you take to wide your browser cookies), allowing you to support way of your interaction connected the environment.

Why bash hunt engines request to way you? The elemental reply is due to the fact that that’s however they make money. 

Search is free, truthful hunt engines person to marque wealth via advertising. To service amended ads and assistance advertisers scope customers efficiently, hunt engines need data.

But what if it doesn’t person to beryllium that way? Kagi thinks there’s a antithetic way. Rather than the modular ads model, Kagi has decided to spell for a subscription model.

Kagi is genuinely private—its privacy policy is extended and transparent. But volition radical attraction capable astir privateness and Google’s domination that they’ll wage to usage a hunt engine? Kagi surely thinks so. And truthful bash immoderate people—as of the past update, it has ~2,600 paid subscribers.

Feature spotlight

Like astir hunt engines these days, Kagi offers an AI-powered summarizer.

SearX is simply a escaped and open-source metasearch engine. Its main purpose is privacy, which means it does not stock users’ IP addresses, does not usage tracking cookies, and adjacent prevents users’ query keywords from appearing successful server logs.

If you click a hunt result, you’re sent straight to the site—rather than a tracked redirect nexus similar what Google does.

Feature spotlight

The crushed wherefore SearX is backstage is it’s designed for users to tally backstage instances connected their ain computers. Here’s SearX’s documentation. But if you’re not technically blase but inactive privation to beryllium protected privacy-wise, you tin usage publically disposable instances. Here’s a list.

Want to usage Google without each the tracking? Try Whoogle.

Whoogle is akin to SearX—it’s a backstage lawsuit hosted connected your ain computer. Except that this clip ’round, you’re getting Google’s hunt results. And you’re getting them without ads, JavaScript, AMP links, cookies, oregon IP code tracking.

The lone downside of utilizing Whoogle is that you’ll request to beryllium somewhat technically proficient. Here’s the GitHub documentation and however to deploy. 

Considering this, it’s wide it’s not for everyone. But if you cognize however to program—and are superior astir privacy—then you should decidedly see Whoogle or SearX.

Feature spotlight

Whoogle has built DuckDuckGo’s “Bangs” into its search.

Yep is simply a privacy-oriented hunt motor with a 90/10 gross stock model—90% of advertizing gross volition beryllium paid straight to creators. It’s created by us, Ahrefs.

When you hunt connected Google, you spot SERP features that amusement instant answers, instructions, and different types of content:

The occupation is that Google creates nary contented itself. These are each taken from webpages and contented creators. As a result, Google steals clicks from these websites and generates the gross itself via ads. 

In fact, successful 1 celebrated case, Google started utilizing CelebrityNetWorth’s contented for its featured snippets. CelebrityNetWorth’s postulation declined by 65% successful a twelvemonth and Brian Warner, the founder, had to lay disconnected fractional his staff.

We privation to alteration that. We don’t privation a hunt exemplary wherever hunt engines make much gross from contented than the creators themselves. That’s wherefore we created Yep. 

Think of it similar YouTube. YouTube’s exemplary of paying creators has generated an full ecosystem of YouTubers. That’s however we’re getting specified high-quality video content. Ironically, YouTube belongs to Google, but Google isn’t applying that exemplary to its hunt engine.

Feature spotlight

Yep summarizes the apical hunt results for you.

If you judge successful the aboriginal of blockchain-based exertion and are looking for a privacy-oriented hunt engine, past Presearch could beryllium for you.

Presearch is simply a decentralized hunt engine. Instead of utilizing a cardinal server to store and service data, hunt motor enactment similar crawling, indexing, and query processing is distributed among nodes. The nodes past get rewarded with Presearch’s token (PRE) for processing the hunt results.

This enactment of decentralization, advocates believe, removes Google’s quality to “play God” and censor/restrict hunt results. This is akin to Brave’s model, wherever Brave besides gives rewards successful the signifier of tokens (BAT). 

Feature spotlight

If its results don’t fulfill you, Presearch offers shortcuts to different hunt engines.

Final thoughts

While Google dominates the planetary hunt motor market, it has had its just stock of criticism: antitrust issues, creating a filter bubble, violating idiosyncratic privacy, and more.

For users, alternate hunt engines whitethorn beryllium 1 workaround. But don’t instrumentality our connection for it; effort retired the ones connected this database to determine what works champion for you.

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