Ever since Google increased their interest, shall we say, in user data, I have been on the lookout for a good alternative. I have never used a lot of Google services, but I do use Gmail as a backup for my email and contacts, and I have used the now defunct Gchat etc. Most of these service are pretty easy to get rid of, as there are many really good alternatives (read: better alternatives). The one thing that has been somewhat difficult to replace has been the search engine. As far as I can tell Bing is doing a pretty good job, but since we don’t have the full blown version in Denmark, and since it seems to be somewhat focused on shopping, travel and various verticals like that, I am not sure it will do the trick for me when doing work related searches for instance. I have entered the world of Java, so I need a little help from time to time.
Anyway, where to find a search engine as good as Google, but without the Stasi-like violation of my privacy? Enter DuckDuckGo. As far as I can tell from hitherto limited use, the search results are as good as Google’s and the presentation of returned links is actually preferable to Google. And of course, they don’t track your activity. This pretty much says it all.
I am pretty excited about this, so over the next couple of days I will try out DuckDuckGo and see if this is not the Google search substitute I have been looking for.