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Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

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Re: Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

#101

Post by realradicalwash »

ddtaylor wrote: post #9

DDG is great - have been using it for months and I really enjoy the results. Google searches seem to be more of an echo chamber whereas DDG results seem to be more representative across a broad spectrum of sites.

more representative in a broader sense - and also really good for specific searches.

they really have been upping their game and continue to do so. the other day, I was looking for a specific paper, not so old, from 2012. admittedly, for papers, I still use Google, I guess because of the link to G scholar.

I couldn't find it within about 5mins and switched to DDG. it was on p.1 of DDG. that was really great to see.

Re: Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

#102

Post by simias »

electrograv wrote: post #21
jerrre wrote: post #2

Might be a nice step towards rebranding for a bigger audience? I use DDG as a default search engine, but the name doesn't roll off the tongue nicely at all... Edit: It doesn't roll of my fingers either, I didn't even type out the full name...

I love DuckDuckGo and use it on all my devices, but, WOW what a horrible name/branding. What were they thinking? Every time I mention/recommend it to someone the response is always a blank stare followed by something along the lines of “I would never use that if only to avoid that horrible name / brand URL”. And I can’t say I blame them.

I agree. I don't like super generic names like "Signal" or "Go" because they're often ambiguous but some people really go too far the other way. An other example that comes to mind is "SpiderOak". I don't know if there's a reference I'm missing here but it's just a weird and obscure name for an online backup tool.

Re: Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

#104

Post by amelius »

krylon wrote: post #85
projectramo wrote: post #4

Don't fall for it duckduckgo! If you change your name to duck, your name will no longer be searchable! It's a trap!

When I ask Google for "duck", duckduckgo is literally the first hit. My experience may be biased, because I am from Germany, but outside of English speaking countries, they should do just fine.

If it's really a trap like parent suggests, then Google will just change that behavior later on, right?

Re: Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

#105

Post by pilsetnieks »

burkaman wrote: post #47
sjroot wrote: post #12

This is cool and I hope it leads to a rebranding. While I like DDG a lot, the name has always felt off-putting to me. I'd much rather say "I'll just search Google" than "I'll just search DuckDuckGo." Does an extra syllable really cause that much additional friction?

It's not the number of syllables, it's the particular flow of those syllables and the number of full stops. I'm sure there's a linguistic term for what I mean. Consider "I'll just Googlify it" or "I'll just Dodogo it", which both sound better than "I'll just DuckDuckGo it".

Perhaps also a case of the Bouba/kiki effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect) - people assuming the nature of words because of how they sound.

Re: Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

#106

Post by cenal »

burger_moon wrote: post #77
ddtaylor wrote: post #9

DDG is great - have been using it for months and I really enjoy the results. Google searches seem to be more of an echo chamber whereas DDG results seem to be more representative across a broad spectrum of sites.

I've been using it as my primary search engine for about 2 years now. I only use google now when I want to look up places because I don't like that ddg uses yelp. I never felt google searches were bad, nor do I have problems with the results from ddg. This was just a privacy decision I guess, one that is easy to make with little sacrifice.

Its been my primary search for about two years as well.

I like that it uses Yelp vs Google listings. Yelp has its issues but Google listings are usually less reliable.

Re: Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

#108

Post by ChrisRR »

krylon wrote: post #85
projectramo wrote: post #4

Don't fall for it duckduckgo! If you change your name to duck, your name will no longer be searchable! It's a trap!

When I ask Google for "duck", duckduckgo is literally the first hit. My experience may be biased, because I am from Germany, but outside of English speaking countries, they should do just fine.

Incognito search in the UK here:

1st result: Wikipedia Duck

2nd: Wooden Ducks

3rd: BBC duck recipes

4th: Toilet duck cleaner

5th: BBC iplayer, Sarah and Duck

It goes on. The only mention of duckduckgo on the first 5 pages is this recent news

Re: Google transferred ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo

#110

Post by stephen_g »

ddtaylor wrote: post #9

DDG is great - have been using it for months and I really enjoy the results. Google searches seem to be more of an echo chamber whereas DDG results seem to be more representative across a broad spectrum of sites.

Yeah, I'd made two serious attempts at switching over the last few years, and only this last time have I stuck with it. Almost a year now on my phone and laptop. I still use Google on my work computer but might eventually switch that one too.

The main things I find myself still using the !g code for is news and maps. But for other searches I finally find I get just as good results.

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