16 votes

Topic deleted by author

19 comments

  1. stu2b50
    Link
    To be frank if the main concern is search result quality, then Google is the best, bar none. Other than Google, there's Bing, and DuckDuckGo (which doesn't exclusively pull from Bing but much of...

    To be frank if the main concern is search result quality, then Google is the best, bar none.

    Other than Google, there's Bing, and DuckDuckGo (which doesn't exclusively pull from Bing but much of it is composited from Bing). But the main reason to choose either of those would be ideological, not practical.

    23 votes
  2. [3]
    petrichor
    Link
    @Seirdy put together a great comparison of search engines a while back.
    • Exemplary
    11 votes
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I recently stumbled on an article focusing on another factor potentially worth considering too: Which search engine serves up the most conspiracy theories? Relevant tweet from one of the study...
      4 votes
    2. Seirdy
      Link Parent
      (sorry i'm late) Thanks for the shout-out! I just updated Qwant's info.

      (sorry i'm late) Thanks for the shout-out! I just updated Qwant's info.

      1 vote
  3. simplify
    Link
    You can use DuckDuckGo with '!g' before your search term to get results from Google. I personally just use DDG, both on mobile and my laptop, and never have any problems finding what I need. I'd...

    You can use DuckDuckGo with '!g' before your search term to get results from Google. I personally just use DDG, both on mobile and my laptop, and never have any problems finding what I need. I'd also suggest installing the uBlock Origin add-on in your browser to help suppress advertisements if you stick with Google.

    9 votes
  4. teaearlgraycold
    Link
    That’s their search engine’s business model. Why would you use it if it wasn’t the best? Their monetary incentives are around showing you ads first and results second. They’ll do their best to...

    Google doesn't care about helping you find things

    That’s their search engine’s business model. Why would you use it if it wasn’t the best? Their monetary incentives are around showing you ads first and results second. They’ll do their best to make the ads as relevant as possible. You can use ad block to remove them if you want.

    8 votes
  5. [3]
    vord
    Link
    I typically use duckduckgo. Their schbang feature lets you easily hop to dedicated searches if their results are suboptimal. Use it by throwing these combos in the query My most common schbangs:...

    I typically use duckduckgo. Their schbang feature lets you easily hop to dedicated searches if their results are suboptimal. Use it by throwing these combos in the query

    My most common schbangs:

    • !g google search
    • !gm googlemaps
    • !gi google images
    • !w wikipedia

    Alternatively, check out https://www.searx.me/

    That can be self-hosted.

    8 votes
    1. [2]
      ras
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      The bang syntax is what keeps me on DDG. I commonly use the base DDG search and then if I'm not finding what I'm looking for I'll throw a !g at it. I also use: !a for Amazon searches !imdb when...

      The bang syntax is what keeps me on DDG. I commonly use the base DDG search and then if I'm not finding what I'm looking for I'll throw a !g at it. I also use:

      • !a for Amazon searches
      • !imdb when I've got an actors name on the tip of my tongue
      • !newsyc for searching HN

      Edit: a typo

      4 votes
      1. petrichor
        Link Parent
        And they're user-contributed, too! I only wish they kept their Instant Answers infrastructure open. They're really lacking compared to Google.

        And they're user-contributed, too!

        I only wish they kept their Instant Answers infrastructure open. They're really lacking compared to Google.

        5 votes
  6. Micycle_the_Bichael
    Link
    I've been using Ecosia and haven't had any issues with the results not being great.

    I've been using Ecosia and haven't had any issues with the results not being great.

    3 votes
  7. hook
    Link
    One thing that is ofyen neglected is which languages do you search in. Some engines are pretty crap at anything that is not English.

    One thing that is ofyen neglected is which languages do you search in. Some engines are pretty crap at anything that is not English.

    3 votes
  8. grtcdr
    Link
    I self-hosted both Whoogle and Searx in the past, they are pretty good :) Whoogle is very similar to Startpage, while Searx is a meta-searchengine. I definitely recommend them if you're geeky and...

    I self-hosted both Whoogle and Searx in the past, they are pretty good :)

    Whoogle is very similar to Startpage, while Searx is a meta-searchengine. I definitely recommend them if you're geeky and patient enough.

    3 votes
  9. Apos
    Link
    I mostly use Google or DuckDuckGo. Otherwise I also use specific sites depending on what I search for like GitHub's search for code, Reddit for some topics, Twitter tags, YouTube, etc.

    I mostly use Google or DuckDuckGo. Otherwise I also use specific sites depending on what I search for like GitHub's search for code, Reddit for some topics, Twitter tags, YouTube, etc.

    2 votes
  10. 0d_billie
    Link
    I would be interested in the logic that shows Google doesn't care about giving you decent results. Either way, I use DuckDuckGo and it's great, never had any issues with it. I reckon part of that...

    I would be interested in the logic that shows Google doesn't care about giving you decent results.

    Either way, I use DuckDuckGo and it's great, never had any issues with it. I reckon part of that is a good idea of how to use search engines though. I always think that Google corrects for bad search terms quite well, whereas DDG needs more precision at the outset.

    2 votes
  11. Bullmaestro
    Link
    Duckduckgo is probably the best search engine from a privacy standpoint. Bing has really good video search which ironically makes it a better search engine for porn than what a lot of porn sites...

    Duckduckgo is probably the best search engine from a privacy standpoint.

    Bing has really good video search which ironically makes it a better search engine for porn than what a lot of porn sites offer. For everything else it's crap.

    2 votes
  12. tjf
    Link
    I haven't seen Brave's search mentioned yet, so I'll throw that out there. I use it and DDG about equal amounts, depending on which computer I'm on. Haven't settled on one, but they're both give...

    I haven't seen Brave's search mentioned yet, so I'll throw that out there. I use it and DDG about equal amounts, depending on which computer I'm on. Haven't settled on one, but they're both give decent results and the bang shortcuts are super useful.

    2 votes
  13. Levantus
    Link
    You.com is looking pretty promising. It's in beta at the moment. However, it is privacy-focused while still retaining lots of neat features.

    You.com is looking pretty promising. It's in beta at the moment. However, it is privacy-focused while still retaining lots of neat features.

    2 votes
  14. NoblePath
    Link
    There’s a beta site out there that looks like a ckntender called kagi. It’s working pretty well for me. All other engines seem less useful than yhey used to be. There’s also a new project for a...

    There’s a beta site out there that looks like a ckntender called kagi. It’s working pretty well for me. All other engines seem less useful than yhey used to be.

    There’s also a new project for a paid search engine. Can’t remember it’s name, it sounds like something from 2010, may e starts with an “n”.

    1 vote