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DuckDuckGo Search Engine – When Google is a dirty word in your book

DuckDuckGo Search Engine

We live in a Google world, with the Big G even replacing the word, ‘search.’ Admit it. You’ve heard at least one person recently say they were going to Google something, right? However, there are still plenty of rebels out there who refuse to bend to the status quo. They desire marching to the beat of a different drummer, and this search engine is for them.

The DuckDuckGo Search Engine has two things going for it that will immediately make it the go-to resource for many. First, it has a duck as a mascot and the Internet loves animals. The only thing that would make it more appealing is if it were called MeowMeowGo or ICanHazSearch.

The second – and more serious – offering provided by ‘the Duck’ is anonymous searching. Yes, in a world that obsessively tracks your every movement, this site doesn’t track your searches… and that’s an automatic win for a lot of people.

While doing a search with the Big G and the Big D, differences are instantly apparent.

Of course, everyone is familiar with the results of a Google search.

Google

A tiny line at the top reveals how many results were found, followed by the first page of those results which includes an image bar sandwiched between the search results.

DuckDuckGo offers a vastly different look.

DuckDuckGo

Instantly, you notice the screen capture reveals less info. That’s because the text is bigger. Not a huge issue when it’s possible to change how info is shown in the browser, but it could be appealing to people who appreciate larger text while searching without having to take a time-out to adjust settings.

Also, on the right side of the page, you’ll notice a little column that offers to refine the search to specific pages. A related feature lets you literally add a bang to your search with the !bang feature. Using the above example, you could search ‘Batman versus Superman !facebook’ to find out what people on Facebook are saying about the film. Just add an exclamation mark and the name of the website you’d like to search to narrow the search to that one particular location.

Finally, DuckDuckGo does away with pages so you don’t have to keep clicking ‘Next page’ during your search; just keep scrolling down.

If you’re not into Google, or just want to try something a little different, DuckDuckGo seems like a decent alternative.

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