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Updated by Search Encrypt 🛡️ on Apr 09, 2019
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Best Private Search Engines - Alternatives to Google

These Search Engines won't track you, and will help keep your searches private.

Private search engines have seen huge growth over the past few years. Until recently, it was unthinkable that anyone could compete with Google in the search realm. However, there are now many smaller players in the search game that are growing rapidly. Google’s market share has declined from 78.7 percent in February 2017 to slightly below 70 percent in February 2018.

A few of these search engines, including DuckDuckGo and StartPage began as normal search engines with no privacy enhancements. However, after they realized the massive risk associated with storing so much data, they decided to take a different approach.

Why Do Private Search Engines Matter?

We often hear about internet service providers (ISPs) or the NSA intrusions into citizens’ privacy, but what are we doing about it?

There is an inherent risk in sharing your information with third-parties while browsing the internet. That’s why private search engines are beneficial to users. There is very little risk that your searches will be leaked to anyone, because most private search engines don’t track any information that can link you to your search terms. Beyond that, by searching in private, you aren’t creating filter bubbles that isolate you from any results that may conflict with your beliefs.

It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting your information from the websites you visit and the search engines you use. With sites like Facebook and Google drastically improving their tracking capabilities, your data is becoming more spread out across the web.

Your privacy really matters, and these search engines can help you stay private online:

Source: https://choosetoencrypt.com/news/search-encrypt-use-private-search-engine/

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Search Encrypt

Search Encrypt

URL: SearchEncrypt.com

Read More: About Search Encrypt: The Private Search Engine

Search Encrypt uses end-to-end encryption to keep your searches totally private. It started in April 2016 and has been steadily growing. As far as private search engines go, Search Encrypt is probably the most focused on encryption to keep your searches private.

You can use Search Encrypt online or as an extension installed on your browser. Search Encrypt, like most others on this list, is a metasearch engine. This just means that Search Encrypt securely gets its search results from somewhere else, rather than using its own search technology.

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StartPage

StartPage

URL: StartPage.com

Read More: The Best Private Search Engines - Alternatives To Google

StartPage is a great private search option for anyone who prefers Google search results. StartPage calls itself “the world’s most private search engine”. It began as IxQuick in 1998, but later switched to StartPage which was easier to spell and remember, and incorporated Google’s results.

StartPage has a large user base around the world, especially in European countries. It also does a good job of protecting user privacy. It doesn’t store any user data or share information with third parties.

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DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo

URL: DuckDuckGo.com

Read More: Alternative Private Search Engines to DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is probably the most well-known alternative search engine. Its CEO, Gabriel Weinberg, said, “if the FBI comes to us, we have nothing to tie back to you.” Searches are sourced mostly from Yahoo. One cool feature of DuckDuckGo is what it calls “bangs”. Users can directly search other sites, like Amazon, Wikipedia, Yelp or Youtube, by starting their query with an exclamation mark!

4

Qwant

Qwant

URL: Qwant.com

Read More: Which Search Engine is Best For Privacy?

Qwant is a private search engine based in Europe that “never tries to guess who you are or what you are doing.” According to its About page, Qwant never records your searches and never uses your personal data for advertising or other purposes. Qwant has a feature similar to DuckDuckGo’s !bangs which it calls Qwick search shortcuts.

5

Searx

Searx

URL: Searx.me

Read More: The Best Search Engines on The Internet

Searx calls itself “a privacy-respecting, hackable metasearch engine”. It aggregates results from other search engines without storing your information. All queries are made with a POST request (unless you use Chrome). Therefore your searches don’t show up in Searx’s logs or in your browsing history.

Another unique feature of Searx is that it lets anyone run their own instance. This feature is a cool way of decentralizing the search market and giving people more control.