Keep Google, nothing has been able to match them. I find DDG to be pretty subpar for a lot of searches so I stopped using it.
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Analyst Argues Apple Should Acquire DuckDuckGo Search Engine
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That's all very nice, and to be honest I use DDG as my default browser both on my Mac and my iPhone. Also, it has some very nice accelerators that allow you to search on other websites very quickly. Incidentally, I also use bookmarks for most websites or just type the URL, unlike many people in my close circle that just search their way in.
However, I always change to Google if I'm doing research for work. I tried DDG but it consistently gave me bad results and made me waste a lot of time. They need to change this if they want to be a serious option.
However, I always change to Google if I'm doing research for work. I tried DDG but it consistently gave me bad results and made me waste a lot of time. They need to change this if they want to be a serious option.
I have used startpage occasionally, and the results are better than ddg but not much fanciness. One problem is that it is a bit slow and sometimes times out because of what I guess is server load. They do pay google for the results, and for search they are not allowed to use other search providers (they used to be a search aggregate site before). The resulting search is also slightly different from Google’s own.
I just gave the most glaring examples, but even searching for news topics to flight tracking or computer issues or fixing issues in a game or scores in sports etc it’s no match... Among those I know practically everyone who tried it switched back to Google, for them it was a waste of time with a lot of scrolling through to get some decent results. Until DDG gets good enough it’s going to be hard to convince the masses to switch, as few people want to go through the extra effort of using one search engine for privacy and one to find everything not found on the other.
I suppose it’s also true if we don’t give opportunities to use competing products and give them a chance to improve we are stuck only with one option.
I also get the privacy aspect but I guess some us are willing to give out anonymized info to for accuracy and simplicity. As a few have mentioned start page is probably a better real alternative for some of us. I may give DDG another try in the mean time since it’s been over a year since I last used it.
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I have been using DDG for years now and I am happy with them 99% of the time but on RARE occasion I will use Google (only if I can't find what I need with DDG). I would love to see DDG stay independent but if they are bought by anyone, I would prefer it to be Apple. Just like with Eero home routers, I wish Apple had bought them instead of Amazon.
The theory behind the story is that in negotiating with google, google doesn’t take DDG seriously as a threat. But if Apple owned it, Google would have to decide whether apple is bluffing when it says “double what you pay us or we’ll make DDG the default.” Given that google lost a lot of money when apple made its own maps app, google would have to consider apple’s threats very seriously.
Not always, because you have to wade through many pages of crap advertising and paid promotions to get to the real stuff. But 35 pages back you can find it in Google, but it simply is not present in DDG.
I would also look at it from this perspective. When Apple Maps came out, most realized it was pretty poor but had no idea it wasn’t Google. I would think that Google underestimated of being the “default”. To most at the time, including myself, there was no distinction between default maps and google maps.
I think now that people are getting more and more educated in mobile, I don’t think it would be wise for Apple to try to bluff Google here. I could see Google pushing people to using Chrome which would be better for most Google users in an iOS experience anyway
source: https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-si...4NTMzNjU1OTgyODIzNzE2fDIxMTEwNjIzNTA5NzQ2NXww
Author
Gabriel Weinberg
CEO/Founder DuckDuckGo. Co-author Super Thinking, Traction
Attachments
What about this?
"Back in 2006, Weinberg sold "The Names Database" to Classmates.com for around $10 million."
www.neowin.net
"Back in 2006, Weinberg sold "The Names Database" to Classmates.com for around $10 million."
Meet Gabriel Weinberg, the man taking on Google and Bing
DuckDuckGo is a small startup search engine which offers fair and unrecorded results to anyone. Neowin has interviewed Gabriel Weinberg, the founder and CEO of DuckDuckGo, on Google, Bing and more.
www.neowin.net
That makes more sense. haha. At least the option is there! I didn't even know it was an option, so I'm still glad I read the article and went and looked. Now my default is DDG.
I believe you are thinking of startpage.com. I use them on my phone. My default is set to DDG, but i dont actually use them. I just cant make startpage a default....
What I like about them is they scrub off Google's UI. To me, the simpler the better. More results in less space is better.
DDG is following in Googles footsteps in terms of "beautifying" the results page, so I skip both when possible.
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Results are different between the two in part because with startpage you do not benefit from Google's tracking. Say what you will, but having a search engine know the type if result you typically want has its benefits.
I would LOVE it if a search engine had generic personality profiles to choose from to influence the type of result. Like an "engineer" profile would suit me perfect! Then I would have to do less arguing with the search engine...
I have avoided google for a couple years now (except for youtube...nobody is perfect, right?). And when I use them now, the results I get are noticeablely more generic and less "accurate" to what I want. They pretty much match startpage now.
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What a waste :/
First off, this just makes a deal with DDG better "because" it's the default... Apple's the one who did make Google the default.. They didn't have to, and although many would probably disagree, having the option only, would be better.
Aple's got a good thing here... Don't waste it by another privacy company you can't do yourself.
Google seems like sneak-attack "We've got our foot in" Where does "trust" come in to this ?
First off, this just makes a deal with DDG better "because" it's the default... Apple's the one who did make Google the default.. They didn't have to, and although many would probably disagree, having the option only, would be better.
Aple's got a good thing here... Don't waste it by another privacy company you can't do yourself.
Google seems like sneak-attack "We've got our foot in" Where does "trust" come in to this ?
Google results are better because they are invading your privacy.
If it was anonymous then it wouldn't really have mattered, but they have a specific profile on you targeting you with ads and selling your online behaviours, actions, and tracking you online through cookies.
I also wish there were more retail spaces but Apple is actually a fairly conservative company so the last thing they want is to do is spread themselves too thin and then have to close down a bunch of stores. As far as cloud services, it’s a commoditized space that really offers nothing special. That’s why there are million cloud services. Apple hates those spaces so they just offer the minimum service with little extra value. I’m guessing that Apple believes AR and glasses could be bigger than phones. After all, the post smartphone wearable space turned out to be much bigger than anyone thought (at least for Apple) so AR could be bigger than phones even.
Yep, true didn't think of that on iOS, was only thinking to the desktop/tablet experience.