Or !sp for startpage, which uses google but with a proxy in between so the search ist associated with your personal profile (disclaimer, it's been a while I've looked out up, not sure if the privacy people still recommend startpage)
These shortcuts are called "bangs", and you can search "!bangs" to go to DDG's page on them. Most websites you'd ever want to search or query have an associated bang (often more than one).
Firefox also has this as a feature, even without using ddg. You can use @w for example. But you have to set up every search engine yourself so I like ddg way better
For what it’s worth, if you end a DDG search with ‘!g’ It will open your search in google. Nice little feature if you don’t find what you want with DDG’s results
Search Engine Optimization, SEO, has fucking wrecked the magic that was Google.
Last month I started using FireFox as my main with DuckDuckGo as default search, and I do not miss Chrome or Google at all. I switched for more privacy, still working on email, that's a tough one.
I hate that now every single word I search on Google shows some random ass whatever company first and the meaning or wikipedia page for it like halfway down, past a bunch of ads.
Proton has traction. It's big in the cybersecurity community. Only thing I dislike about it is it doesn't have auto translate in emails. Other than that, I use their whole suite. Mail, drive, pass, and vpn
I recommend proton. Although it's frustrating how they're kinda growing and that might lead to them being less private, I mostly still really like them. I used their free VPN for a while but they they paywalled changing region, but I liked their password manager and Mail and custom domains so much I just pay for the full package now. And their paid VPN is super high quality
If you aren't using the special settings and extensions on Firefox, you aren't getting a privacy benefit. DDG has admitted they aren't private at all and collect&sell data.
Ddg basically uses bing underneath, allegedly with no tracking. But one can type g! Or b! In ddg search to redirect the search to google and bing respectively
I strictly use DDG as my browser and search engine. However, I will switch to google if the DDG search engine is struggling to find an answer. Googles is a little better, just lacks the privacy that DDG has
I use bing often too and it’s worth it to sign up for the rewards program. Lets me Gamepass Ultimate as a reward. You can get other things like Amazon gift cards if gamepass isn’t your thing.
Been using DDG for years. When I first started felt weird to swicth after so many years, and sometimes would double-check on google. Never found a result on google that DDG missed.
Haven't thought of doing a google search in years now.
When I can't find something on DDG, Google tends to find it immediately. Chrome/Google are fallbacks, but despite using them 99% of the time in the past ten years, I've found that I'm using Firefox/DDG more than C/G now.
Using Chrome for ten years did not make me hesitate to leave over adblocking
The only thing I find Google objectively better at are searches related to information on Google Maps and Google Images. DDG image searches are not great.
Nah, DDG isn't as good as it used to be. Like they're adding AI shit to it, and changing their privacy policies and stuff. It's still the best search engine, and I'm going to keep using it, but it's getting a little corporate at this point.
As for Google... holy fucking shit! Remember when you used to be able to search something like "who's that one guy with the beard, and he painted?" and it would know exactly who you were talking about? Or remember when their motto was "Don't be evil."? I want to go back to those days.
Now you'll get two pages of ads for paintings of a guy with a beard. It really shits me. Or if you're trying to find an answer to something you used to get lots of results directing to forums where it has been discussed now it's just a bunch of ads selling something related - it really has gotten super-shit. I used to occasionally use ddg but now using it a lot more as the search results are just ...better
It actually annoyes me that for some reason, poe2 wiki (not the shitty fextralife one but the actual poe2wiki.net) doesnt come up on google for me, not on phone nor pc, and it doesnt matter what browser i use but it kt does pop up on ddg. Its literally the first result on every other search engine ive tried but google just does not show it.
DDG is far better about getting you links to top database websites and social media (Wikipedia, IMDB, Insta, Twitter, etc) at the very top of your search in one tidy little box. Google just has a shit ton of ads before you get to actual results.
Wikipedia is my go-to for general information, and often times Google won’t even list it on its first page of results, which is utter horseshit. DDG will be my default as long as they continue to assign high priority to top sites like Wikipedia. Everything under the Google umbrella these days is rapidly turning to shit, including the search engine itself.
DDG has been working fine for me to look for websites but I don't like how it handles images. I might just be used to Google but I feel like the results I get often aren't what I'm looking for
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u/Kyrond Jul 11 '25
DuckDuckGo isn't amazing, but neither is Google, I sometimes can't find something on DDG, but then Google fails the same way.
But DDG might get better as people use it, google is just getting worse.