DuckDuckGo vs Google search

Billiam29 said:

I'll add another item if I may.

6- Do not use your ISP's own DNS servers. Use a different DNS provider that offers encrypted DNS services of some form. Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 service is probably the most commonly used for this (LINK). Using such a service will not prevent tracking from browser-based techniques such as cookies, browser signatures, single pixel images, and so forth. What it will do is make it considerably more difficult for your own ISP to track where you go online and potentially sell that data about you.

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unless you also use a VPN, the ISP knows where you actually go it, as opposed to just doing the DNS queries. But regardless of that, the reliability of the ISP DNS performance is marginal, even with one as big as xfinity. I finally gave up on them and moved to google's at 8.8.8.8.

kelpdiver said:

Billiam29 said:

I'll add another item if I may.

6- Do not use your ISP's own DNS servers. Use a different DNS provider that offers encrypted DNS services of some form. Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 service is probably the most commonly used for this (LINK). Using such a service will not prevent tracking from browser-based techniques such as cookies, browser signatures, single pixel images, and so forth. What it will do is make it considerably more difficult for your own ISP to track where you go online and potentially sell that data about you.

Click to expand...

unless you also use a VPN, the ISP knows where you actually go it, as opposed to just doing the DNS queries. But regardless of that, the reliability of the ISP DNS performance is marginal, even with one as big as xfinity. I finally gave up on them and moved to google's at 8.8.8.8.

Click to expand...

I hope you were picking Google's DNS servers because of xfinity poor reliability and not because of any sense of privacy. I'd be very surprised if Google wasn't storing and using the information gleaned from seeing all the DNS queries it hosts.

Billiam29 said:

You might want to elaborate on what your concern is here.

Is your concern simply the presence of ads, or too many of them, in the course of your regular browsing? If so, then your search engine usage will have almost nothing to do with that. Simply installing an ad-blocking browser extension like Ublock Origin or something similar is likely your solution.

On the other hand, if you're concerned is that the search engine you use is employing tracking technologies which are then subsequently used as the basis for the content of ads you see elsewhere in your regular browsing, then that is a different issue. I will defer to others to offer advice on that.

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I thought it was the first interpretation, and I was about to suggest ad blockers.

I won't go on, as it's not going to help.

atom14.

Oh and to show that isn't a conspiracy theory :-D here's the source...

DMKAlex said:

Let's say I am tired of ads showing up on my regular browse, like reading newspaper on line, would switching to DDG resolve the issue of being tracked.

Would DDG search result as good as Google?

Appreciate any comments and education.

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Option #1: As previously suggested, Try the Brave Browser. It has a real ad blocker, it fakes your browsing fingerprint, and protects you from being tracked from stuff like cookies, content delivery networks etc. Nothing beats Brave's privacy by default.

Option #2 Firefox with bunch of flags ("advanced settings" as they call it) changed for privacy, plus the best tracking and ad blocker extension to date: uBlock Origin! In fact, having it on any browser is a must.

I use both browsers. For privacy - Brave, but for photography and also general use - Firefox. Firefox graphic engine is just better, and the way it renders pages allows for a bit more distant reading.

DDG's is not a real search engine, but a filter. The results are coming from Bing. I'm not a big fan of DDG - namely the past of it's creator, but in terms of privacy it beats Google and direct use of Bing.

Brave, the company behind the browser with the same name, have their own search engine, and it's ok, but very young to beat any of the older boys.

DMKAlex said:

Would uBlock disable the autofil feature?
I hate to have to login every time I visit my frequent website.

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No. I have been using UBlock Origin in Firefox for years. Never had a problem with auto logins, unless, of course, you delete your cookies.

jfriend00 said:

I hope you were picking Google's DNS servers because of xfinity poor reliability and not because of any sense of privacy. I'd be very surprised if Google wasn't storing and using the information gleaned from seeing all the DNS queries it hosts.

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like others, I'm not particularly worried about google, and they have MUCH better material from my use of gmail and gdocs.

Reliability, speed, and protection from other bad actors.