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DuckDuckGo Traffic

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Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#231

Post by nottorp »

gharding wrote: post #182

If you are Google, would it be in your interest to support a supposed competitor, who really is only just aggregating Google search results mashed up with others like Bing, that appear to basically produce the same results as Google; in order to at least be able to make the claim that you are not a monopoly? Does your answer change when you consider that Google gave the duck.com domain to DDG a few months ago? If tha…

If you read the other comments, it's Bing searches plus their own crawler plus just about any other search engine BUT Google?

Also no, they don't produce the same results. Google is becoming useless.

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#232

Post by angott »

coryfklein wrote: post #228
sdrothrock wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an offshoot discussion and I have nothing against DDG or bang commands -- just presenting another side of convenient searches. > I know Firefox had install-your-own search plugins forever, but the total lack of friction of typing “!yt badgerbadgerbadger” to get specifically YouTube results was fantastic. I find "use your own search" to be much less friction than going through DDG since it takes me right to re…

Wait if I browse Amazon Japan will I find like, different and better things?

Maybe yes. But also way more expensive shipping :-)

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#233

Post by MuffinFlavored »

nbrempel wrote: post #3

Over the past 5 years I’ve tried DDG several times. Each time except the last I wanted to stick with it but the results simply didn’t stand up to what I’d see on Google. About 6 months ago (a year? I can’t remember) I switched and haven’t looked back. Now, when I look at google, the results actually look less relevant. As well, the ads on Google have become very obnoxious. I don’t feel like I’m being served the best…

> As well, the ads on Google have become very obnoxious

Why don't people use ad-blockers?

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#234

Post by OJFord »

FabHK wrote: post #165
OJFord wrote: post #82

I've used DDG for some years now, and never had the problem switching and needing !g that others describe. (I use things like !w to search specific actual sites, but not to change global search engine.) The only thing that bugs me is regional result relevance. It gives you a toggle on/off for present country by IP; as far as I can tell it has no effect. I get /en-us/ and amazon.com as (all) the top results whether it…

Toggling the country gives me completely different results, from language to eg specific wiki or amazon site if you use !w or !a.

Maybe it's because for me it's just locale (UK, en-gb) and not language? I don't know, it doesn't work well for me though.

If Amazon appears in the top 'web' results, it's always amazon.com (not .co.uk) however toggled. The sponsored links in 'shopping' results are always amazon.co.uk & £-figures though, however toggled.

Company websites, airlines, booking systems etc. that I know I'm going to need the /en-gb/ variant of invariably appear in results as /en-us/ URLs.

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#235

Post by jethro_tell »

throwaway_2047 wrote: post #53
nbrempel wrote: post #3

Over the past 5 years I’ve tried DDG several times. Each time except the last I wanted to stick with it but the results simply didn’t stand up to what I’d see on Google. About 6 months ago (a year? I can’t remember) I switched and haven’t looked back. Now, when I look at google, the results actually look less relevant. As well, the ads on Google have become very obnoxious. I don’t feel like I’m being served the best…

I have similar experience. Upon reflection, when searching, I had some preconceived expectation about the result, maybe a stackoverflow answer, maybe a wiki article, that made me "think" google result was better. But in reality, it was because I was expecting the result, in particular the result from google, before having the result. The longer you use DDG, the less google-specific result I expect. Of course, DDG's s…

yeah, once you realize you already know what you are looking for, then you can create custom searches or use the !bang notation.

!stack 'Error message'

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#236

Post by [deleted] »

teeray wrote: post #14

Bang commands[0] really sealed DDG for me. I know Firefox had install-your-own search plugins forever, but the total lack of friction of typing “!yt badgerbadgerbadger” to get specifically YouTube results was fantastic. !g (search on Google) also makes it far easier to switch. Don’t like the results? Prefix !g and try again. My other favorites: !sr [name of subreddit] - much faster than “reddit.com/r/[name]” !r - Red…

[deleted]

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#237

Post by bagacrap »

sansnomme wrote: post #18
dfee wrote: post #15

Honest question: what distinguishes DDG from Google or Bing? Why shouldn’t they (or won’t they) follow the same trajectory as our once beloved “don’t be evil” Google of the late 2000s? I’ve used DDG off and on, and I think the interface is fine (perhaps better these days as Google seems to have gotten worse), but I see the idea of selling clicks as being too lucrative. Are we just rooting for the downfall of the incu…

Because their business model is built on privacy and not necessarily search tech. See my previous comment on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22078338 In many ways they are more like a VPN company — a proxy for hire. If they want to expand, a good way would be to acquire Keybase or maybe something like https://bloom.sh and continue exploiting the inferior Google alternatives market.

That's less of a business model and more of a marketing campaign. As a business model, enhanced privacy sucks bc it yields reduced profits until the day a significant portion of the money-spending population decides to make decisions based on privacy.

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#238

Post by bagacrap »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #92
dfee wrote: post #15

Honest question: what distinguishes DDG from Google or Bing? Why shouldn’t they (or won’t they) follow the same trajectory as our once beloved “don’t be evil” Google of the late 2000s? I’ve used DDG off and on, and I think the interface is fine (perhaps better these days as Google seems to have gotten worse), but I see the idea of selling clicks as being too lucrative. Are we just rooting for the downfall of the incu…

They sell clicks, but non-tracked, non-invasive keyword clicks. Which of course means a search for iphone 11 will have some paid ads to click on. As they've built their user base on privacy and those unhappy with Google, it's very unlikely the user base would shrug and carry on if DDG switch to Google mode tracking with all the dubious extras of data collection, and retargeting etc. Not that it's going to work though…

They make money from affiliate links too. IOW their "organic" search results are actually money-making advertisements. Obviously DDG claims this revenue doesn't influence search rankings, but if you're the kind of cynic who tars all tech companies with the FB brush, I don't know why you'd believe that.

Also, while the ads shown to you may not use as many personalized signals as Google, they are syndicated through Yahoo/Bing which means if you ever click on one, that ad network knows that much more about you. They are tracking you just as much as Google, you just don't get the benefit of increased ad relevancy. So I really don't understand the win, except inasmuch as a lot of commenters on HN hate all things Google and this gives them a way to unplug.

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#239

Post by heydabop »

kmos wrote: post #139
dt3ft wrote: post #77

Any chance that DDG will not turn into Google if/when they grow too much?

I still prefer others causes, such as Ecosia.org or www.lilo.org ;-) DDG is just about money and they will turn as a Google next.

Same, been using Ecosia both at work and at home for a few months now. Maybe twice a month I make a point to Google something for very specific/technical results. Otherwise Ecosia is great!

Re: DuckDuckGo Traffic

#240

Post by IndexPointer »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #174
frank2 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft could decide to terminate their access to Bing APIs at any time resulting in DDG’s immediately losing most of their users. DDG does not have their own crawler or index.

DuckDuckGo do have their own crawler (DuckDuckBot), and they augment their results with other search providers other than Bing, including Yandex.

The text in their help is confusing, but it kind of implies that their crawler is for answers only, and that web results come from Bing and yahoo (which is powered by Bing).
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