Google is arguably the most popular search engine out there, holding a whopping 90% market share worldwide. The company uses powerful and intelligent algorithms along with AI applications, which offer a seamless and personalized experience to its users.
But we all know that this “personalized experience” comes at the cost of sharing our personal data, tracking our online habits, and being bombarded with targeted ads. However, there are many search engines other than Google that have a lot to offer, not only in terms of privacy protection but also in terms of providing useful features. In fact, some of them can provide a better search experience depending on our needs.
The second most popular search engine is Microsoft's Bing. It is more of a visual search engine, offering different tools to users for a better experience. Search results on Bing are powered by Yahoo! Search, and its homepage has an ever-changing background that shows beautiful images of animals, places, sports, people, etc.
Why use Bing?
- The best video search engine, with tons of features
- Special features for developers
If online privacy is what you're looking for, then DuckDuckGo is the perfect search engine for you. The site never tracks you or your online activities, which means there are no ads to bother you.
It offers all the typical features of a search engine like Google, but it also includes a feature called “bangs” that is worth mentioning, as it allows users to directly search other websites, such as Amazon, Wikipedia or Youtube, by starting their search with an exclamation point!
Why use DuckDuckGo?
- The best Google alternative for private search
- Does not track users and has minimal ads
- User-friendly UI
Yahoo has been around longer than Google, and many people use Yahoo! Search in their daily lives. The web portal functions as a news aggregator, email service, online shopping center, game center, travel guide, and more. Rather than being a standalone search engine, Yahoo's web portal offers a variety of services ranging from sports to travel.
Why use Yahoo?
- Large number of additional services besides simple search
Qwant is another privacy-focused search engine. The site claims that it will never log your searches and will not collect your personal data for targeted advertising. It has many features similar to DuckDuckGo. One of them is called “Qwick Search Shortcuts” and it is exactly like the “Bangs” feature.
Why use Qwant?
- This alternative search engine focuses on privacy
- Qwant also serves as a music search engine
Yandex is probably one of the biggest competitors of Google, as it provides similar services like mobile apps, browsers, maps, translation, analytics, cloud storage, and mail service. These services make Yandex the best alternative search engine to Google.
Why use Yandex?
- If you don't want to use Google services, but need similar features.
Search Encrypt is a metasearch engine that ensures privacy and that your online activities remain secure. The site claims that it does not track any information about its users, as it uses local encryption to secure their searches. The most impressive feature of this alternative search engine is that your browsing history automatically expires and is deleted after 15 minutes of inactivity. So, you don’t have to worry even if someone else has access to your computer.
Why use Search Encrypt?
- Good search engine for privacy protection
- Offers an automatic deletion feature for browsing history
In addition to providing search results, Starpage offers a proxy service for safe and anonymous browsing of websites. In order to promote the cookie-free internet, it has a generic URL generator, which eliminates the need to set a cookie.
Why use StartPage?
- None of your information is stored (including IP)
- Google search engine, no tracking
Another metasearch engine that deserves a mention on this list is SearX. Aiming to make the Internet more free and decentralized, this site doesn’t collect your data and offers objective results from a variety of sources.
Why use SearX?
- Easy and customizable search engine for privacy protection
- Offers many options to improve search results
Ask, formerly known as Ask Jeeves, has been loved by many people for its simple format. It is a common search engine that brings up search results if you type in any term in the form of a question.
Why use Ask.com?
- If you have a lot of questions, then Ask is the answer
This search engine handles not only privacy issues but also censorship. Gibiru has been providing free and anonymous search results since 2009.
Why use Gibiru?
- Makes content search easy and ensures privacy
So there are several interesting alternatives to searching the internet, besides Google, and all you need to do is choose one that meets your needs.
