Note: This is not an advertisement. I love what the folks at DuckDuckGo are doing and want to spread the word.

DuckDuckGo is my search engine of choice (and is the page that opens in all new Safari tabs for me). If you are not using it as your default search engine, I’d advise you to start now.

I started using DuckDuckGo well over two years ago. My initial impressions back then was that it was slow, the results were not nearly as good as Google’s and the name was stupid. None of those first impressions turned out to be true.

Why DuckDuckGo?

• They do not track you. It always feels creepy using Google Search because they know so much about me. In a post-Snowdon world, we know we’re being tracked. One fewer tracking source a good start.
• It’s really fast.
• The results are the results you are looking for and nothing else. No Ads. No Promoted Links. No “personalized search results”. And none of those scumbag aggregation sites that serve copied content and ads.
• No page breaks, just scroll for more.
• Their instant answers are great and getting better.
• They are adding new search features every day. Just recently they added live MLB scores.
• Bang commands allow us to search specific sites. Just start with a !. Brilliant. Which means, at worst case, you can get to an encrypted private Google Search by starting with g! if the DuckDuckGo search does not find what you are looking for.

Making it the Default

In OS X, in Safari Preferences:

In iOS, In Settings / Safari:

I strongly recommend you switch to DuckDuckGo for your search needs now. And if you are web smart, feel free to give them feedback or get involved in making it better.

Follow the author as @hiltmon on Twitter.