4 great Google alternatives

A long time ago when I had a computer called an XT And dial-up was pretty new and i was looking for places to go for information i think it was an add that crawled up the page or it may have been talked about google in a computer mag i may have used google for 25 years or so.but gust last week iwas usein google for some car ac information and the info i was gettin back was pretty poor, so i thouht i may try some other engine and tryed duckduckgo for the first time,surprise suprise a whole heap of good results.duckduckdo you have sold me.

I had web ferret but for some reason it has gone by the wayside any one else know what happen to it ferretsoft webferret where have you gone?? please come back little sheba..!!

Thanks, Sven.

Already had the Duck, added Qwant and Startpage.

The monetizing of people's details are the inevitable result of people expecting everything on the web to be "free".

People always get this blank look when I ask "Why do you suppose Microsoft offered upgrades to Windows 10 for free for months on end? Is it because they love you and want you to be happy?"

Sven, you mentioned this in one of your replies:

"If I remember correctly, some browsers feature built-in syncing for the browsing history. So far, I have never used this feature.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-set-sync-my-computer "

The syncing of the logins.json file inside your Firefox Profile (stores saved site logins there) between computers on your network (for the same user account) is very useful. As an additional benefit, I was able to recover this one time, when a bad update to Firefox created a subtle bug where certain settings combinations cleared it. I was able to backup and copy the file between computers, before the bug hit the second system. The logins sync MAY have fixed it automatically if I let it, but I was unsure how robust it was at the time, so did it manually at that time to be sure.

As I keep many tabs preserved differently between the laptop and desktop, I do NOT have the tab sync set on - but it could be useful to some.

Thanks for the informative article. The duckduckgo search engine and add-in looks useful - still playing with it.

I don't know if you have looked at it but there is a browser from Avast called Avast Safe Zone and it purports to block where your identity comes from and you can use different search engines. I use it and like it. Laurie Speer.

I am properly stupid.At least that is what my late wife of 59 years marriage said I was, but I like google and with windows defender in windows 10 I feel safe ,,,,,from malware etc

To Ed Leslie: Cars come today with USB and with multimedia package, not with CD players anymore, at least 2014-2016 models (even cheap Korean brands). You need to order a CD player if you want to have it in your car. On 128 MB average USB flash you can have thousands of songs there.

Sven, I really don't see a single reason to burn discs today. 1 TB solid-state HDD (small, slim and cheap) can contain absolutely all your discs and more. If it's not enough, get another 1 TB HDD. It never looses quality on storing, you can easily erase and add anything, you don't need burning... Wow, I feel like I'm educating a very relic auditorium. :)))))))

Interesting article, I'll have to give those sites a try. I've heard of DDG but never used it.

BTW I use Burning Studio to make backup copies of some things, and "archive" copies of other ("archive" in "" because it's not all that historical or needed for "regulatory reasons", just stuff I wouldn't care to lose as it would be a real PITA to track down &/or re-scan if even possible. :-))

I've also made copies of DVDs of old (I mean 1920s-30s-50s vintage) home movies that were transferred from film to VHS & later copied to DVD. Now everyone in the family has a set!

Hi to all at Ashampoo,

Good article on search engines. I know that Google keeps a lot of personal info about their users, but so do Microsoft and everybody else that we might inadvertently have contact with on the web.

But your article helps to remind us of the pitfalls.

I will definitely give a go to the 4 search engines you mention, to see how they perform in my case.

I use webcrawler as a search engine. Do you have any information about that one?

Thanks for a very interesting article. I am British and have lived in France for many years now. I speak French but hate the way Google and Bing give me pages in French. Recently staying with my son in Spain they decided I was Spanish and altered their provision suitably ! Googly used to ask if I wished results in English but now only suggests I can translate them ! I am certainly going to try these and will see if I can avoid having to switch on VPN before using my search engine. Keepup the good work

Sven:

I am a young 78 and a former Intelligence analyst for our government . thank you for writing all these great articles.

People know so little, as to what is really collected. I have purchased most all of your products. keep up the great articles as I read them all and smile at how naive most people are.

Hi Henry Till,

I use DuckDuckGo and just created a shortcut on the desktop. No need for any install process.

See:- https://duckduckgo.com/

Enjoy.

Hi Sven,

Once again, an excellent article. I wasn't going to comment untl I read Vlad's comment and your reply.

Here, in Australia, our lives are being regulated more and more as so many people are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions (like Americans). This results in wholesale demands for personal information, frequently information of no real relevance, so preserving personal privacy is a major issue, an issue where too many are showingg attitudes similar to Sven's (sorry Sven, not intended as a personal attack). For this reason I don't fill in census forms. Many may see this as irresponsible, but the forms ask for some info that is not really needed, and a lot that the government already has via interlinked computer systems.

So, after all that, you will understand why I have a vey negative attitude toward Google, despite its convenience. I will be exploring your alternatives. (And, yes, Burning Studio is very useful!) Thank you.

Enjoyed your article Sven. I use Google, but only as a secondary search engine as I like their map feature and Google earth is interesting to me. The search engine I use most of the time thought is Opera as it has a VPN option. Do you have any comments on Opera? I will now give startpage a try as well.

DuckDuck sounded good, except I found it impossible to actually install. If I have to use it as a search engine and I cannot have it on my desk top as a search engine provider, what is the use?

I do not think it is VERY often that ones looks forward to receiving newsletters, Sven. Your newsletters are certainly an exception with me, both in form and content.

I have been using Duckduck for about an hour (!) - thanks for the eye opener - and it works like a charm.

Talking about privacy and with me being a big time criminal, I do cherish privacy, especially when it comes at an affordable price ("nothing to hide", my foot!)

Thanks

Very interesting and useful, Sven. Thank you. I've never been sure why on earth Google would be interested in my activities, but I have an instinctive dislike of anyone snooping into my business.

I wouldn't like it if a neighbour tried to peer through my windows, either, even if he only saw me clipping my toenails.

I write watch reviews and I was curious as to whether the four search engines listed would rank my reviews as high as Google. In my test, a review that is ranked first in Google was within the first five hits using the other search engine. I assume all search engines rank results in a similar manner.

I tried the 'hidden search' in MetaGer. It went to the watch review and, using Google Analytics, I checked to see if I could identify myself as the user. Google Analytics did not even know I was there. MetaGer also appeared to be hiding advertisements. I don't really like that because I am paid when someone clicks on one of these ads. I also tried with Qwant. Google Anlytics correctly identified me as a user from Halifax, NS.

I was an Altavista fan for many years along with a real oldie Dmoz where I was an editor.

Sven I never used Google to search simply because the results are too limited. Google is the reason people in one country rarely see news and events in another country. Results are based on your country of origin.

Startpage is my fave and homepage. There is a deep sincerity for the user at Startpage. Quick example: a certain Governor of a State in the US wanted info on a certain topic. He sent out 1000s of invites, myself included, to find the hidden technical data. It wasn't top secret stuff and I handed him a 3200 page PDF. The others were using Google and found nothing more than a few paragraphs.

Personal conclusion; Europeans understand the Open Internet where the user makes their own uncensored decision.

in regards to vlad's comment , i guess i'm a relic. I love burning studio. it's so much easier to pop a new cd in the player in my car while i'm driving , rather then have to stop and search my tablet for what i want . If you're looking on your phone/tablet for your music while you drive, you are a very dangerous idiot.

Hi Sven,

Thank for your very nice blog again. Regarding this and some other related posts of yours, I have some reservations. I really don't understand why some people are complaining about Google and their ability to track your data or your presence. Still 90% are using Google. I'm not a spy, I have nothing to hide from my girlfriend (now my wife), why should I care about Google having my data? Really, are you hiding something that it bothers you so much? :)))) We're in Year 2017, so Google is a golden standard today. Others become a rarity, a history. Where is ICQ? Where is AOL? Where is Yahoo? When my friend needed to prove to his human resources at work that he was actually present at work that day, he just showed the google maps log which is stored in his account by minutes and they accepted that. It's really useful, not saying that Android = Google. Do you really care about Google being monopolists? How does it personally affect you or your friends? Sorry for saying this but it really sounds more like people envy them for their success. Judging someone is not creative. It's better to create your own success... By the way, please tell Ashampoo marketing team to stop marketing Burning Studio. Who is burning discs today? It's like DuckDuckGo or Open Office. Who really needs it, except some stubborns who still live in the past?

Hello Sven

Have you tried, or have an opinion on the 'PaleMoon' search engine? The one that I use.

Thanks for this sharing! Now we know there is life outside Google. But Google has its advantages, because it save your browsing history, you can always go back to your website from another device. There are trade-off though. How to get the best of Google without giving out too much of ourselves?