In this article, I’ll explain why you should avoid using search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Instead, I recommend three search engines that respect your privacy, don’t manipulate you, and help you search the web much more anonymously.

How Does a Search Engine Work – In Simple Terms?

When we look something up on the internet using a smartphone or computer, we just want to quickly find the “right” answer, right?

For many people, Google has become synonymous with internet searches. Once known for its motto “Don’t be evil,” Google has now grown into one of the most powerful internet companies, far more than just a search engine.

Google’s web crawlers scan billions of web pages daily, creating the Google index of the internet. If a page isn’t in Google’s search index, it might as well not exist for many people around the world.

Every page the web crawler finds is analyzed by a Google algorithm. This process considers thousands of parameters (like text analysis, usefulness, links, search terms, etc.). The algorithm assigns each page a score based on keywords that users search for, called the Google PageRank.

PageRank determines where your website appears in Google search results. Naturally, only Google knows the complete PageRank algorithm, which is regularly updated and improved.

How Do Search Engines Make Money?

Every website owner tries to convince Google’s algorithm that their site is the best and most relevant on a given topic. There are two main approaches:

1. Organic – Using search engine optimization (SEO) to improve Google PageRank over time. This includes running your website consistently and creating good, relevant, and multimedia-rich content. Google’s algorithm is also impressed by images and videos.
2. Paid Advertising – Buying specific keywords to appear in the top search results. Over time, this can also improve your “organic” PageRank. The more competition there is for a keyword, the more expensive it becomes for Google’s advertising customers.

Why Is It Bad for Google to Profit from Our Data?

To succeed with search engine advertising, it’s crucial for Google to know who is using its search engine.

Key information includes your location, language, and device (smartphone, tablet, PC) when you’re “googling.” To recognize you repeatedly, Google assigns you an ID.

1. Every search query, every new location, and every new device associated with this ID (you) is potentially stored forever in a Google data center and linked to your ID.
2. All this stored information can create a detailed profile about you. Some say that Google may know you better than you know yourself over time. Advancing artificial intelligence capabilities will make the data collected about you even more valuable.
3. The Snowden revelations (2013) showed that Google (like other major US-based internet companies) shares the information it gathers about you with law enforcement agencies. This allows organizations like the NSA to collect data on people worldwide.
4. With the knowledge collected about you, Google’s algorithms could make assumptions about the types of information you’re interested in and which you’re not. This could lead to certain search results being shown more often than others. This effect is known as “intellectual isolation” or “filter bubbles,” which artificially narrow our horizons.

Important!
This process is even easier for Google if you’re using a Google Chrome browser or a standard Android smartphone, as you’re likely surfing with an active Google account.

Other commercial search engines, like Bing, Yahoo, or Yandex, operate similarly.

What Are Search Engines That Respect Your Privacy?

Since we’re here at BaseCamp level and we’re just starting to change our online habits, I recommend you start with the following three search engines. With all three you can search the web more anonymously. It would be important to combine the engines along with a privacy-focused browser and a trustworthy VPN service.

1. Brave Search
   search.brave.com – Since June 2021, Brave (a privacy-focused internet browser) has offered its own search engine with its own search index. You can use the search engine directly in the Brave browser or link it as a preferred search engine in another browser. The search results are contextually more accurate than the Google index which mean there are very good.
2. Startpage
   startpage.com – Startpage is a search engine based on the Google and Microsoft Bing index but respects your privacy. Startpage BV is a Netherlands-based company that has been around since 2006. Startpage is ad-supported, but only “good” ads. They show you three entries based on your search input without behavioral tracking (which they don’t have). Using Startpage is simple, and the search results are excellent.
3. DuckDuckGo
   duckduckgo.com – DuckDuckGo is another search engine that respects your privacy. The company is based in the USA. DuckDuckGo uses the Microsoft Bing index, so (in my opinion) the search results aren’t as good as other options.

PrivacyGuides, Recommended Search Engines, 28-08-2024

Cover image was created with AI.