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An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

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Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#11

Post by whichdan »

I used DDG for a few weeks, but ultimately switched back to Google. It was mainly for two things:

1) It's slightly slower than Google, which became more apparent after the fifth or sixth search of the day.

2) No images integrated with search results. I didn't realize how often I searched for images until I used DDG. At Google I usually get a few images and an "Images" link to click. At DDG I needed to add a !gi to my query.

Like JohnsonB said, there really need to be another draw besides just privacy.

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#12

Post by Steko »

MikeCapone wrote: post #4

I've been using DDG as my default browser for a while (though I sometimes revert to !g to search google), and I'm satisfied with the experience. The main thing that would really improve my experience would be if it was faster. Google really spoiled my with the instant results and suggestions as you type. I'm also looking forward to them switching to SPDY as I always use the encrypted version, and this should make it…

Google has put so much effort into speed over the last 10 years that they can't perceptively improve much in this department going forward. So DDG's target is relatively stationary and closing the gap may be expensive but is at least straightforward.

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#13

Post by Of_Prometheus »

I've been using DDG mainly on principle. As a search engine, I've found it to be less robust than Google. My searches tend to be highly specific, too, so my inability to learn all the keywords hasn't helped.

Nevertheless, I've only been using Google as a last resort, at a rate of perhaps twice a day. I think DuckDuckGo's cause is important.

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#14

Post by panacea »

whichdan wrote: post #11

I used DDG for a few weeks, but ultimately switched back to Google. It was mainly for two things: 1) It's slightly slower than Google, which became more apparent after the fifth or sixth search of the day. 2) No images integrated with search results. I didn't realize how often I searched for images until I used DDG. At Google I usually get a few images and an "Images" link to click. At DDG I needed to add a !gi to my…

I've found I add !gi to my search string subconsciously nowadays, when I know I want to perform an image search, whereas before I would enter my search terms, wait until google had loaded its results and then hunt for the images link to get the full image search results.

In some way it's 'trained' me to perform more targeted searches from the outset.

The slight lag before getting results is noticeable though.

I'm going to stick with the upstart for the moment nevertheless.

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#15

Post by Steko »

Ralith wrote: post #10
dkhenry wrote: post #2

I like DDG and I even converted chrome over to use it as its primary engine, however, recently I am noticing more and more spam links and less and less links that really matter. I think I am coming to the conclusion that DDG did this is the wrong order. They are developing a great frontend and using others backends, but to really beat google or MS or yahoo you need to develop a great backend that can filter results w…

> you need to develop a great backend that can filter results well and troll the web Trawl. The web gets trolled enough as it is.

Not to hijack further but 'troll' is technically fine there.

troll ... 4.(intransitive, fishing, by extension) To fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat similarly to trawling; to lure fish with bait. [from circa 1600]

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/troll#Verb

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#16

Post by boyter »

JohnsonB wrote: post #9

DuckDuckGo has really fallen behind Google in the zero click information department, which is one of DDG's key selling points. DDG needs to have one or more major competitive advantages over Google in order grow. Privacy is great, but zero click is something obvious and usability orientated that really stands out. I'm not going to use DDG if Google gives me more zero click information no matter what; it just makes to…

What about things like,

  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=frequency+of+letters+in+The+quick+brown+fox+jumps+over+the+lazy+dog
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=days+between+6%2F22%2F1979+and+10%2F5%2F1979
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hn+duckduckgo+interview
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=php+xml_parser_create+example
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=currently+in+theaters
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=msft
  https://duckduckgo.com/?q=currency+in+panama
The only one I think Google does better is "currency in panama" however it also gets the information wrong in the "zero click" answer. The only reason I like that result more is the Wikipedia answer on the right is just more appealing to my eye.

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#17

Post by vaksel »

dkhenry wrote: post #2

I like DDG and I even converted chrome over to use it as its primary engine, however, recently I am noticing more and more spam links and less and less links that really matter. I think I am coming to the conclusion that DDG did this is the wrong order. They are developing a great frontend and using others backends, but to really beat google or MS or yahoo you need to develop a great backend that can filter results w…

yeah you'd think with the VC investment they'd be going for that

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#19

Post by mark_l_watson »

I purposefully use duckduckgo several times a year as my default search engine for several weeks because I like to support alternatives to mega corps.

Google meets my needs better and their recent power search class was very cool.

A little off topic but I have had more than a few fantasies about starting my own micro search engine. Text analytics and knowledge management in general have been an interest of mine since the early 1980s. What stops me is that if I were to invest my personal resources in this I would want tens of thousands of users getting value from my system every day, and frankly, I don't think I could achieve that. Gabriel gets an order of magnitude more than what I would hope for, so I hope that he is very satisfied with what he has achieved. Good job!

Re: An Interview with DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg

#20

Post by Jayschwa »

stephengillie wrote: post #7
isaacwaller wrote: post #6

I have never liked DuckDuckGo after seeing their advertisement tactics, especially the "educational" http://donttrack.us/ minisite. Apparently your anonymous HTTP referer info (from Google Analytics?) will be sold to insurance companies / appear in a background check? It is blatant fear mongering and really made me angry.

It all goes into the huge (secret by law) national insurance database, which is accessible by all insurers. All information gained by an insurance company about an individual is put in there, and insurers are prohibited from discussing it.

Citation(s)?
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