Google is the most well-known, but by no means the only search engine on the World Wide Web. Google al­ter­na­tives available include Duck­Duck­Go, MetaGer and YaCy. Each of these search services come with their own unique ad­van­tages, such as better privacy than what Google offers.

Why use a Google al­ter­na­tive?

Many people decide to look for a Google al­ter­na­tive due to the search engine’s downsides or because it is simply too wide­spread. When it comes to data pro­tec­tion, the Cal­i­for­nia-based internet company has been crit­i­cized for years because its services collect in­for­ma­tion such as users’ metadata. This personal in­for­ma­tion can then be used for ad­ver­tis­ing purposes.

Therefore, if you value anonymity, privacy, and data pro­tec­tion, you should consider finding a Google al­ter­na­tive. Other ad­van­tages include ad-free use and the fact that com­mer­cial search results can be filtered.

Tip

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Duck­Duck­Go — the anonymous meta search engine

Image: Screenshot of the DuckDuckGo homepage
This Google al­ter­na­tive got its name from the inventor having a spon­ta­neous idea. / Source: https://duck­duck­go.com/

The Google al­ter­na­tive Duck­Duck­Go is a search engine with high data pro­tec­tion standards. True to the slogan “The search engine that doesn’t track you”, neither your IP address nor your search queries are stored. In addition, instead of per­son­al­ized ad­ver­tis­ing, ads are used that are tailored to your search terms.

Duck­Duck­Go is supported by more than 100 services such as Bing, Yandex or Wikipedia as well as the company’s own crawler Duck­Duck­Bot. In the web search you are offered the pos­si­bil­i­ty to filter com­mer­cial search results. In addition, you can save any settings you make for a longer period of time by uploading the in­for­ma­tion anony­mous­ly to a cloud. This makes Duck­Duck­Go a serious Google al­ter­na­tive for anyone who wants to use an anonymous search engine to protect their privacy.

Pros Cons
High data pro­tec­tion standard Doesn’t offer as many services as other search engines
IP address and search queries are not stored  
Company-owned crawler, Duck­Duck­Bot  
Option to filter out com­mer­cial search results  

MetaGer — meta search engine from Germany

Image: Screenshot of the MetaGer homepage
The MetaGer results list provides in­for­ma­tion about the search service where the website was found. / Source: https://metager.org

The Google al­ter­na­tive MetaGer is a metasearch engine from Germany, which was developed at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hanover. MetaGer relies on its own index, al­ter­na­tive search engines and web services for web searches. There is the option to become a club member and benefit from ad-free use.

MetaGer’s design is not as user-friendly as other Google al­ter­na­tives, but this service also offers a high standard of data pro­tec­tion. IP addresses are anonymized during the search and are therefore not passed on to the search engines. In addition, there’s no user tracking, cookie storage or browser fin­ger­print­ing. Another advantage compared to Google is the server location. Since all MetaGer servers are located in Germany, the web search is subject to the national data pro­tec­tion guide­lines.

Pros Cons
Ad­ver­tis­ing-free use as a club member Design is not user-friendly
IP addresses are anonymized Some services are only in German
No user tracking & storage of cookies etc.  
Server locations in Germany  

YaCy — search engine with a de­cen­tral­ized approach

Image: Screenshot of the YaCy homepage
With the Google al­ter­na­tive YaCy, users have their own search engine on their PC. / Source: https://yacy.net/

With the Google al­ter­na­tive YaCy (which can be down­loaded as software), you become a search engine operator yourself. With its peer-to-peer approach, the open-source project takes a com­plete­ly different approach than con­ven­tion­al search engines. Instead of running on a web server, the free software runs directly on your computer. This has the advantage that search queries are not trans­ferred to a server and your data always remains with you.

You create a de­cen­tral­ized search network by con­nect­ing to other YaCy users. You also get to decide which pages the search engine has in its index by simply starting your own web crawler and spec­i­fy­ing which pages it should access. The ranking is created by users upgrading or down­grad­ing results. This col­lab­o­ra­tive search network can therefore not be censored or be down at any time.

Pros Cons
Open source Software must be down­loaded
Peer-to-peer/de­cen­tral­ized network Ranking dependent on users
Data stays on in­di­vid­ual PC  
Search network is not cen­sorable  
Tip

Are you looking for a child-friendly Google al­ter­na­tive? In that case, you should consider a search engine for kids. They ensure that children are only shown content that is ap­pro­pri­ate for their age.

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