TL;DR - which privacy-focused search engine do people recommend, preferably one that can also easily be used as a default option in Safari?

I ditched Google in about 2016ish I would guess, and since then have used DDG as my default search engine.

As someone entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, it’s always seemed like a sound choice, as it’s one of the search engines built in to Safari on both iOS and macOS.

After spending a bit more time recently playing around with and updating my Docker containers, I started hosting a Whoogle container, which seemed to work pretty well, but I don’t see many out there talking about it, so not sure how good it actually is. I then tried a SearXNG container, but either had it misconfigured or just wasn’t getting many search results back.

At the moment I’m trying out Startpage, but I know there are potential privacy concerns since they were part-bought in 2019 by a US ad-tech company.

I’m also playing around with different browsers at the moment, flicking between Safari, Firefox and Brave. At which point I stumbled across Brave Search, which seems pretty promising.

So, which search engines do you all recommend?

UPDATE: Probably should’ve done a poll! But latest (if I’ve captured everything correctly) is:

  • DuckDuckGo - 10
  • Qwant / SearXNG / Kagi / Brave - 4
  • Startpage / Ecosia - 2
  • Google - 1

As to my other questions around browsers:

  • Majority seem to use Firefox
  • Some mentions of Brave
  • One mention of Arc
  • jcrabapple@dmv.pub
    2·
    11 months ago

    I started paying for Kagi a few months ago and I’m loving it. Search results and tools are great. People balk at paying for a search engine, but at least this way I know I’m not the product.

    • Sendbeer@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Kagi has been great. I’d like to see more searches on their $5 plan as 300 searches a month doesn’t feel adequate. It has been great being able to promote, demote, and block sites from searching and I have found my results to be more helpful and relevant than Google alternatives I tried. I don’t think I have used Google search at all since signing up. Highly recommend.

    • fulano@lemmy.eco.brEnglish
      0·
      11 months ago

      The weird thing for me is that by paying to use, you will need to be uniquely identified, and that opens doors for losing privacy in several ways. How is that addressed by kagi?

      • Sendbeer@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        They address this on their website and go in further detail on their privacy policy. You’d have to read through that to decide if they do enough to earn your trust. But in my opinion not having any advertising removes most of their incentive to try to collect user data. I suppose there could be a temptation to collect the data to resell, but since a large portion of their income relies on the reputation of being a search alternative that has a focus on privacy I feel the risk to their reputation would be greater than whatever revenue that would generate.

        Of course there are all kinds of companies that flew too close to the sun and sold out user privacy for a Coke and a smile. I’ve decided to go with Kagi and have been very happy with them so far. If they ever sell out I’ll cash out, but they seem to be the best option for me right now.

  • Tane@feddit.nlEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I use presearch. Pretty happy with it. Never paid out my rewards, they’re just growing

  • Viper_NZ@lemmy.nzEnglish
    0·
    11 months ago

    I’ve been using DuckDuckGo for years now and recommend it all the time.

    I get decent, reliable results so haven’t shopped around.

    • EpicFailGuy@kbin.social
      1·
      11 months ago

      @Viper_NZ

      @schmurnan

      Been a duckie for years now but I find myself going back to google for things like maps and shopping (that nearby search is a godsend) have you found any privacy mindfull alternatives?

  • SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.deEnglish
    0·
    11 months ago

    Default search in Firefox: SearXNG (List of Instances) (solves 60-80%)

    if not the solution, I then search for “dd [term]” which goes to duckduckgo. Solves mostly the rest.

    If not, and I am really desperate, I try: “dd !g [term]” so it goes to ddg, redirects to google and then I am reminded how bad a first page result can be. Only ads, sponsored entries and only big company names. Good luck finding anything from a forum or a small blog on google today. All the search words are bundled up in company results that has nothing to do with the topic.