Privacy starts with your search engine: 6 alternatives to Google

Google is by far the most well-known search engine in the world and knows better than anyone how to bring you to the right content you are looking for. Although we know that Google is only too happy to use your search behavior for advertising purposes. As you search, you are effectively Google’s product. Here are six privacy-friendly alternatives you should try.

1. DuckDuckGo

Let’s start with the most well-known privacy-friendly browser. DuckDuckGo has no interest in users’ search results and automatically blocks trackers from websites that are eager to follow you online. Furthermore, the search engine forces websites to use encryption whenever possible when you visit them. Donations are DuckDuckGo’s main source of income.

New in DuckDuckGo is a beta feature that allows the app to detect trackers in the other apps installed on your phone as well. In addition, another feature is being tested: the ability to block email trackers without having to change mailboxes.

DuckDuckGo continues to work in the form of an extension for Chrome that can advise you about privacy when you search online. The extension then shows a privacy score of websites and thus the search engine can expose websites that track their visitors with tracking cookies. These are trackers that collect your surfing behavior for online advertising companies, so that that information can be used for targeted advertisements.

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2. Qwant

The French Qwant is committed to both privacy and neutrality on the internet. First of all, the search engine promises that it will not track your personal information or use it for advertising purposes. Qwant uses Bing’s search technology and advertising platform, but the search engine has its own indexing system. That is, it uses a different order of search results than Bing. Qwant opts for neutral search results and therefore does not show results based on information it knows about you. Most other search engines try to make search results more relevant based on your search behavior and personal information. Finally, Qwant is also a European company and therefore falls under our stricter privacy regulations.

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3. Ecosia

Ecosia is the search engine that plants trees. In addition to privacy, a positive contribution to the climate is also a focal point. Let’s start with privacy first. Ecosia does not collect any personal data in order to provide it to advertisers. The search engine, on the other hand, anonymizes your search results.

There are also advertisements, but with that comes the second important aspect for Ecosia: climate protection. Ecosia shows a counter at the top right of your search results and it shows the number of searches you have already performed with the search engine. Ecosia states that it plants a tree after an average of 45 search results, and it does so by using 80 percent of the advertising revenue for the project. Ecosia’s operation and server infrastructure are also CO2 neutral.

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4. SearXNG

SearXNG takes a very interesting approach when it comes to search engines. This search engine is open-source and allows anyone to take a look at its code. This way anyone who is interested can see that the search engine does not collect data from users. The developers also opt for a decentralized approach. The search engine is hosted by more than 100 different websites, allowing users to make the comparison themselves and choose which source to trust. If you want to get started with SearXNG, you can take a look through the list of hosts.

5. Home page

Startpage is a bit of an odd one out. It pays Google to use its search results because it believes that Google is the best search engine purely functionally.

The difference with Google is that this Dutch search engine removes all trackers and other metadata that websites collect about you. In addition, it also does not send data to Google’s servers that make you identifiable, such as your IP address. Startpage also has a browser extension that blocks cookies and also displays a ‘privacy score’ for websites. You can then also discover afterwards whether you have mainly visited privacy-friendly websites, or whether you have visited websites that collect your data.

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6. Swiss Cows

Swisscows uses Bing’s search engine, but it also blocks cookies and other trackers. The search engine is also family friendly and will not show web pages with inappropriate content in the search results. Furthermore, the search engine uses smart algorithms that estimate the semantics behind your search results. Swisscows therefore wants to estimate exactly what you mean by your search terms in order to show better results.

There is also an Android app from Swisscows and the developer also has its own mail service, a VPN and a messaging app. Swisscows makes money from ads served by Bing and it also sells merchandise.

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Which search engine do you use on your phone and desktop? Are there any other alternatives to Google that you can recommend? Do you think it is important not to share all your search behavior with Google? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article

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