Have you ever considered switching search engines? You’ve likely been using the same one for the last ten years. This is totally normal, but you may want to consider switching to a new one, especially if you’ve been using Google.
If you want to keep your sensitive information safe from data breaches and stop those annoying curated advertisements that you see everywhere, consider using a different search engine. Below we’ve included a few popular reasons to switch, along with five amazing privacy-oriented options.
Reasons to Switch
Neutral Results
When you use something like Google to perform search inquiries, you aren’t receiving neutral results. Google uses a number of tools to provide you with results based off your location, past search history, and more. When you use one of the alternatives listed below, you will get completely organic and natural results for exactly what you’re looking for.
No Location Tracking
Did you know that if you use Google on mobile devices such as laptops, cell phones, and tablets, that you’re every move is being tracked? If that sounds scary, that’s because it is. By using Google you can look at where you were at any given time, on any day of the year. While to some people this seems convenient, it’s an invasion of privacy. Google can use this information to curate location-specific advertisements. Alternative search engines don’t do any of this.
Goodbye Targeted Ads
Speaking of advertisements, Google uses your location, search history, past purchases, and even the microphone on your device to create ads specifically for you. Plenty of people have tested this by talking about something they’ve never searched before. Let’s say you live in Minnesota and have never searched for “surfboards”.
If you talk about surfboards excessively for a few days, you’ll like to start seeing ads that are related to surfboards. While some of the privacy-oriented alternatives use advertisements to help fund themselves, these ads are organic and never based on anything you’ve searched.
Search Engine Alternatives
Hotbot
Hotbot is a search engine that is incredibly private. It allows you to quickly get search results from popular search engines such as Google without compromising your safety. Hotbot doesn’t keep your sensitive information stored and it will keep you safe in the event that Google has a data breach.
Hot.com
Hot.com is another privacy-oriented search engine that is easy to use for newcomers. You will get quick and accurate results when using Hot.com. You can search for anything that you’d look up on Google with the search engine. The main difference being that Hot.com won’t store your IP address, give you targeted ads, or track your location.
Ecosia
When it comes to amazing search engines that are alternatives to Google, Ecosia is definitely one of the top contenders. Not only does it resemble Google, it’s great for the environment. The company plants two trees per 90 searches. Users can easily make safe searches without putting their personal data at risk.
Swisscow
Swisscow is the perfect alternative search engine for families. It is privacy-oriented, meaning you won’t have to worry about the scary misuse of information like you would with Google. It is easy to use and runs on a private server. It is paid for by ads that run on the results page, but the ads are in no way personalized to each user.
DuckDuckGo
Lastly, DuckDuckGo is a privacy-oriented search engine that makes the cut. This is one of the most popular alternatives to other search engines and it’s easy to use. There isn’t any concern about your location being tracked or data mining when using DuckDuckGo. It provides you with quick and accurate results for all types of search inquiries.