Why switch to DuckDuckGo?

Many moons ago I have switched from Google search engine to DuckDuckGo and have never looked back. Two main reasons (but there are other reasons to switch):

1 - Privacy.

• I do not like being tracked 
• I do not like my profile being sold to advertisers and used by google itself to show me ads, see next point...
• I do not like the concept of paid search results placement
• I do not want my search results being based on my profile.  I don't want to live in a confirmation bias bubble when I am searching the web. I want search results to be as neutral as possible, ordered by credibility of the sources, not my profile.

2 - A better search engine.

• I absolutely adore DuckDuckGo Bangs! While you can "peek search" at whatever a certain site has to offer (and has been indexed), using something like "total war site:pls.plaureano.com"... which is cool, and you use it on both Google and DuckDuckGo... in DuckDuckGo you can go the extra mile, by going straight to the search results of a certain site (some examples, there are thousands of these and as soon as you type that "!" DuckDuckGo will guide you):
  • "!w something" - check "something" on wikipedia
  • "!wpt something" - check "something" on wikipedia.PT
  • "!a something" - check "something" on amazon
  • "!aes something" - check "something" on amazon.ES
  • "!g something" - check "something" on Google
  • "!gi something" - check "something" on Google Images
• Every time I get back and use DuckDuckGo it's exactly the same. Neutral search: not influenced by my browsing history  and previous searches.

Not really about "Evil corporations"

I remember when Google started. The "Don't be evil" motto of the early years... I don't really hold the company to the naivety of making that a company goal. The real world and money always get in the way, besides, it would be an impossible mission and Google dropped it years ago. Does it make it an "evil corporation"? Well, the world is not black & white, and I am not "that naive" myself. Corporations want money, power and to stay on top of their game. Things do happen, things do change. That is just the nature of the game. 

While you should "get it" and "see thru it", you can watch it from the sidelines and enjoy a better search engine. Just switch... or don't, I have all the respect in the world for your freedom and right to be a masochist. It's up to you. Enjoy your choices! 

This article was published on Medium (I am a subscriber and highly recommend it).