In today’s world, search engines are a necessity to find what you’re looking for online. Unfortunately, however, there are two big problems you will likely encounter:
- Search engines that violate your privacy.
- Search engines that censor search results.
This private search engines guide will thoroughly examine both of these problems and provide you with the best reliable solutions and alternatives we can find. So let’s begin by examining the first problem with search engine privacy.
The search engine privacy problem
Unfortunately, most of the big search engines today serve as data collection tools for advertising companies. That’s right, they collect your private data and use it to make money with targeted ads. This is a booming industry where your data ends up in the hands of third parties and you are the product.
Here is the information being collected by some of the larger (not private) search engines:
- Source IP address
- User agent
- Location
- Unique identifier (stored in browser cookies)
- Search queries
The items you enter into a search engine can disclose highly personal information about you. Things like as medical conditions, employment status, financial information, political beliefs, and other private details. This data can be collected, stored, and linked to detailed digital profiles which can even contain your real identity. The only way to ensure that your data is safe is to keep it out of the hands of the data collectors. To do that, you need to use a private search engine.
Search engine censorship
Many people are getting fed up with online censorship, particularly when trying to find specific information that was previously available. Censorship can take many forms. With search engines today, censorship can come from filtering, manipulating, and/or blocking certain search results from appearing.
Unfortunately, the censorship problem affects many of the private search engines for these two reasons:
- Censorship flows downhill. Many of the alternative and private search engines are nothing more than private proxies that deliver the same search results from the big players. This means that when Google and Bing (Microsoft) engage in censorship and search result manipulation, so will your alternative search engine that delivers those same results.
- Alternative search engines themselves are also engaging in censorship. Recently the CEO of DuckDuckGo announced that they will “down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.” We can see both sides to the question of whether or not to engage in censorship given today’s geopolitical events. Nonetheless, this amounts to censorship, which is what many people are trying to avoid.
An exception to this may be with independent search engines that deploy their own crawlers, such as with Mojeek, or Brave Search. Additionally, with Searx, you can select which engines it uses.
So let’s examine some alternative private search engines you can start using today.
The best private search engines
Finding the best private search engine for your needs is a subjective process. Your circumstances and goals are unique, meaning there’s no one-size-fits-all. Things to consider include:
- Where is the service based?
- Where does it get its search results?
- Can you run your own instance?
In a perfect world, a search engine would give you great results while also respecting your privacy. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world. Any of the private search engines in this guide could be the best solution for you. But you will need to test drive the ones that look the best to you to see which is really the best fit. Before we start, there is one issue you need to be aware of:
Metasearch vs search: Most private search engines are technically metasearch engines. While a search engine crawls the internet and gathers its own results, a metasearch engine pulls its search results from other search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yandex.
There are also a few search engines that fall in the middle by deploying their own crawler, but also pulling results from other search engines.
Here are the best private search engines:
Searx – Open source and uncensored search engine
Jurisdiction: Not applicable (open source, not based in any one location)
Search results: Fully customizable! You can choose from a large selection of engines to display results.
Searx is an open source metasearch engine that gathers results from other search engines while simultaneously respecting your privacy. Even better, you control which search engines Searx pulls results from, as well as specifying the categories for search results.
Searx customizability comes in handy since Google has been known to block Searx requests. We haven’t seen a good solution to the problem, but you can avoid these kinds of problems by telling Searx to avoid Google (or any other source that causes problems).
Searx also allows you to run your own instance of the search engine. The drawback with your own instance, however, is that your search results won’t be mixed with other users. Searx is open source and available on GitHub.
Be careful with public instances
Because Searx is open source and freely available for anyone to use, there are a number of different public instances you can utilize for private searches. However, just like with Tor nodes, anyone with bad intentions can set up a “rogue” instance and potentially log user activity, as Searx explains here:
What are the consequences of using public instances?
If someone uses a public instance, he/she has to trust the administrator of that instance. This means that the user of the public instance does not know whether his/her requests are logged, aggregated and sent or sold to a third party.
Unfortunately, the Searx project does not run an official public instance. They do recommend public instances that are operated by various individuals or entities. But how do you know those instances aren’t logging your search results on their server? You don’t!
For all we know, a public instance might run by an advertising company, or perhaps a domestic or foreign intel agencies, or just some creeps looking to spy on your data. The only way to be sure is to run your own instance.
Searx Github Page >
Searx.space (list of public instances)
Brave Search – A new search engine from the Brave browser
Jurisdiction: United States
Search results: Uses its own crawler!
Brave’s new private search engine, Brave Search, looks very promising. It is brought to you by the makers of Brave, which is a secure browser with built-in privacy that runs on open-source Chromium. Unlike most of the other private search engines in this guide, Brave is using its own search index, rather than relying on Bing or Google.
Here is a brief overview of the Brave Search project from their website:
Brave Search is the world’s most complete, independent, private search engine. By integrating Brave Search beta into its browser, Brave offers the first all-in-one browser / search alternative to the big tech platforms. Brave Search beta is also available in other browsers, at search.brave.com.
You can learn more about this search engine on the FAQ page that answers some questions. We are excited to see this project develop as it appears to be a strong alternative from a well-regarded organization. We’ll keep an eye on it as things progress.
https://search.brave.com/
MetaGer – An open source metasearch engine with good features
Jurisdiction: Germany
Search Results: In our tests, most Megater search results came from Bing, followed by Scopia and Infotiger, another start-up search engine based in Germany. It also displays some results from Yandex and Yahoo.
MetaGer is an open source search engine (metasearch) based in Germany. It gets search results from Bing, Yandex, Yahoo and others, as well as having its own web crawler. This interesting project started in 1996. It is now operated by a non-profit foundation in Germany called SUMA-EV (Association for Free Access to Knowledge). I tested MetaGer for this guide and found the results to be decent, with some nice features as well:
- Every search result shows the source it came from
- Search filter options (date, safe search, and language)
- Proxy viewing options “open anonymously”
- A new News/Politics results type
MetaGer search engine does a decent job of protecting your privacy, as they explain here. MetaGer converts search requests into anonymous queries through a proxy server, which also provides the “open anonymously” viewing option with all results. With that being said, your IP address is being logged, as they explain in the privacy policy:
We work with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to bring you free Yahoo search results and advertising. For this purpose, usage data for statistical purposes including your IP address is recorded on the MetaGer results page.
MetaGer Privacy Policy
This is again why we urge people to always use a good VPN service that hides your IP address, such as NordVPN or Surfshark.
For operation stability and security, MetaGer search engine does keep some logs on their own servers, but this data is kept no longer than 96 hours and is automatically erased. MetaGer finances operations from user donations, as well as ads that are served through partner networks, such as Bing. These ads appear at the top of the search results. However, you can get completely ad-free search results by signing up for an MetaGer membership. (Without memberships and personal donations, MetaGer states they would not be able to continue operations.)
MetaGer runs all of its infrastructure on servers in Germany, which is a good privacy jurisdiction with strict data protection laws. The service is completely open source. For those on the Tor network, MetaGer also hosts a .onion site.
You can read more about using MetaGer as a search engine, as well as their apps, plugins, and features, on their website. We’ll close here with an interesting quote from MetaGer’s website (translated from German):
Did you know that according to the Patriot Act, all internet servers and search engines physically located in the jurisdiction of the United States are obligated to disclose any information to the intelligence services? Your personal data is at risk even if the servers and search engines don’t store any information: it is sufficient if the intelligence agencies read and store everything at the internet point of connection. All MetaGer servers are located in Germany.
https://metager.org/ (English)
https://metager.de/ (German)
Mojeek – A crawler-based search engine with more privacy
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Search results: Mojeek uses its own crawler and is not dependent on others!
Unlike some of the other private (meta) search engines, Mojeek is true search engine with its own crawler. According to the Mojeek blog, the service surpassed 4 billion pages indexed in 2021. If you want complete search independence from the corporate data monoliths of Google and Bing, Mojeek offers an interesting proposition.
In terms of privacy, Mojeek does pretty well. It claims to be the “first ever no tracking/privacy orientated search engine” from when it first started. The Mojeek privacy policy details how user data is generally protected:
Mojeek doesn’t implement any kind of specific user tracking, whether that be at the time of visit or subsequently via standard logs, which Mojeek does keep. These logs contain the time of visit, page requested, possibly referral data, and located in a separate log browser information. IP addresses are not recorded, instead the IP address is replaced with a simple two letter code indicating the visitors country of origin. By doing this, Mojeek removes any possibility of tracking or identifying any particular user.
Hopefully Mojeek can continue to improve their search results and one day rival the big players.
https://www.mojeek.com/
Swisscows – A Switzerland-based private search engine (no adult content)
Jurisdiction: Switzerland
Search results: Bing
Swisscows is a Switzerland-based private search engine that does very well with privacy and security. They promise no tracking or data collection, and even have a “Swiss Fort Knox” data center for their server infrastructure. From their website:
- have our own servers and do not work with cloud or third party!
- have our Datacenter in the Swiss Alps – THIS is the safest bunker in Europe!
- have positioned everything geographically outside of EU and US.
In terms of privacy, Swisscows is one of the top choices. You can catch up on their privacy policy here. In testing out Swisscows for this guide, I found it to provide good results, which are primarily sourced from Bing.
Family-Friendly content – One unique aspect of Swisscows is that they are passionate about family-friendly content. As they explain on their about page:
- We promote moral values.
- We hate violence and pornography.
- We promote digital media education.
While some people may not like the fact that Swisscows is censoring some adult content, others may see this as a great feature, especially those who have young children.
Because Swisscows does not pass on user data from search requests, they are unable to effectively monetize their service through ad partners, which means they largely rely on donations and sponsorships to maintain operations (sponsors can get a banner ad at the top of results).
Website: https://swisscows.com
Qwant – A private search engine from France
Jurisdiction: France
Search results: Bing
Qwant is a private search engine based in France. Being based in Europe, it is held to data privacy protections that are much stricter than those in the United States and many other countries. Qwant promises to protect user privacy (no tracking) and keep people from getting stuck in the filter bubble.This is all good since Qwant primarily gets its search results from Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Qwant’s privacy policy has changed since we last reviewed their service. Here’s an excerpt that shows their commitment to protect your privacy:
Qwant is committed to protecting your privacy, and that’s at the heart of our philosophy. What you do with Qwant is your privacy and we don’t want to know about it. We don’t keep your search history and we don’t create an advertising profile to target you. With Qwant, you are of course entitled to the rights guaranteed by the European General Data Protection Regulation of April 27, 2016, known as the “GDPR”, but most importantly, we ensure maximum respect for the principles of data minimization and “privacy by design”, i.e., we implement design methods for our services that allow us to collect and process only the data that is strictly necessary. We never try to find out who you are or what you do personally when you use our search engine.
However, when Qwant does not have the answers to your queries, they will pass along pseudonymous data to Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited. Microsoft provides search results, along with “contextual advertising based on the keywords you entered and your geographic region.”
In addition, for purposes of security and reliability of their partner Microsoft’s services, Qwant “may also collect and transfer to this partner your full IP address.” The data transferred to Microsoft is processed under the rules of article 6.1.f of the GDPR, and may be retained in accordance with Bing’s Privacy Policy for a maximum of 18 months.
While the GDPR should protect your data from abuse by Microsoft, if you don’t want Microsoft to know what you are searching for online, you need to be aware that Qwant may share that information with Microsoft under certain circumstances.
Putting that aside, Qwant has good search filtering options. You can filter results by different categories (web, news, social, images, videos, and shopping) as well as by dates. The Qwant homepage includes news stories, trending people, events, and other interest stories. According to their website, Qwant serves 189 million results per month.
Overall, Qwant is a good option for a private search engine, with many features in place to protect user privacy.
https://www.qwant.com/
DuckDuckGo – Popular private search engine based in the US
Jurisdiction: United States
Search results: Primarily Bing, but there are other sources as well.
DuckDuckGo (a.k.a. DDG) is perhaps the most popular private search engine. It’s popularity has grown greatly since our last review. For many people, the first thing to do when installing a new web browser is to set its default search engine to DuckDuckGo.
Based in the United States (not the ideal location from a privacy perspective), DDG was started by Gabriel Weinberg in 2008. It generates search results from over 400 sources including Wikipedia, Bing, and Yahoo. DuckDuckGo has a close partnership with Yahoo (now owned by Verizon).
In March 2022, DuckDuckGo made two interesting announcements in the wake of the situation with Russia and Ukraine.
- They will censor and “down-rank” search results that they feel are related to “disinformation” — see the Twitter announcement here.
- They will no longer source search results from Yandex, according to reports.
We’re not going to attack DDG for its decision to “down-rank” some websites, because we can see both sides of the argument, and this website is not political. However, we will point out that these actions amount to censorship, which DDG previously denounced with other search engines.
To finance operations, DuckDuckGo generates money through advertisements and affiliate programs, which is explained here. Similar to Google and other search engines, DuckDuckGo will display ads at the top of your searches. DDG has partnered with Amazon and eBay as affiliates.
Searches are saved – DuckDuckGo’s privacy policy reveals that DDG is saving all your search queries:
We also save searches, but again, not in a personally identifiable way, as we do not store IP addresses or unique User agent strings. We use aggregate, non-personal search data to improve things like misspellings.
While it would be great if DDG didn’t save any search information, saving this data without IP addresses or unique User agent strings should protect your privacy just fine.
https://duckduckgo.com
YaCy – The decentralized, open source, peer-to-peer search engine
Jurisdiction: Not applicable. (Being a decentralized and open-source platform, YaCy does not appear to fall under any particular jurisdiction, similar to Searx.)
Search results: Peer-to-peer crawler model
YaCy is an open source private search engine created in 2004 by Michael Christen. It can run stand-alone or as part of a decentralized peer-to-peer network. Here is a brief description from YaCy’s website:
It is fully decentralized, all users of the search engine network are equal, the network does not store user search requests and it is not possible for anyone to censor the content of the shared index. We want to achieve freedom of information through a free, distributed web search which is powered by the world’s users.
With YaCy, there is no central server, which could be seized or tapped by authorities. Rather, all peers in the network are equal and can be used for crawling the web or in “proxy mode” to index pages for other users. To use YaCy, you need to download the free software on your operating system, available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. There is a demo portal here to test things out.
https://yacy.net/
Ecosia – The search engine that plants trees
Jurisdiction: Germany
Search results: Bing
Ecosia is a unique private search engine on our list in that it donates a portion of profits to charity and is strictly focused on planting trees. It is based in Germany and claims to be a private search engine. However, some of the things it does make it unsuitable for our main list of truly private search engines.
One issue is that Ecosia collects all search queries and then anonymizes this data after seven days. Another is that they do a fair amount of data collecting through website analytics, including your IP address, browser agent, location, and more.
And one more thing…
Ecosia assigns a Bing tracking ID to every user:
Ecosia also assigns a “Bing Client ID” in order to improve the quality of the search results. This value is a user-specific ID which enables Bing to deliver more relevant search results also based on previous searches. The ID is saved in the Ecosia cookie and retrieved during future visits.
While the “Bing Client ID” can be manually disabled by the user, most people probably are not even aware of it. This is because Ecosia has done a good job burying this information in their privacy policy. To read the full privacy policy, you will need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the privacy page, and then click a light blue “READ MORE” button, which opens up more information.
Does Ecosia meet the criteria to be a “private search engine”? Probably not, but it’s still a good alternative to the big search engines, with commendable charity goals.
Main drawbacks:
- Not a “private search engine” by default
- Bing ID is assigned to users (but can be disabled)
- Search queries, with IP address, are saved for seven days
https://www.ecosia.org/
Yandex.com – A search engine in Russia
Disclaimer: Yandex is a Russian search engine that also engages in censorship, as we see with most Western-based search engines, such as Google and Bing. However, if there is information that you seek, and Western-focused search engines are of no help, then Yandex.com could be a solution for finding what you need. Proceed with caution!
Operating in Russia, we need to point out that Yandex is legally obligated to censor search results. In fact, as we mentioned in our guide on VPNs for Russia, there is massive censorship that is mandated by the government. This is the other side of the censorship coin.
We have also previously pointed out that there is a growing need to unblock websites in Russia given all the censorship lately. In fact, Russia has been actively blocking websites since 2012 and the are now blocking major social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, as well as international news sites, such as the BBC.
So why discuss Yandex if they also engage in censorship? Answer: If you can’t find what you’re looking for with Western-based search engines, then Yandex may be useful.
https://Yandex.com
Startpage – Private search engine that gives Google and Bing search results
Startpage is a privacy-focused search engine that is gaining recognition for its commitment to protecting user data. Unlike mainstream search engines that track and store user information, Startpage operates on a different principle. It does not collect or share personal data, ensuring that your searches are completely private and anonymous.
Established in 2006 in the Netherlands, Startpage provides search results from Google, which makes it an ideal choice for those who prefer Google’s search results but aren’t comfortable with their tracking practices. Startpage acts as an intermediary between the user and other search engines, removing all identifying information from your query before submitting and returning the results to you.
While Startpage previously relied only on Google for results, it now utilizes both Google and Bing:
For example, Startpage submits your query to Google and Bing anonymously on your behalf, then returns the results to you, privately. Google and Microsoft do not know who made the search request—instead, they only see Startpage.
– Startpage support documentation
In addition to its privacy-focused search, Startpage offers a free proxy service. This allows users to browse websites anonymously by making it appear as though the Startpage servers are visiting the site, not the user’s computer. This feature adds an extra layer of privacy, preventing websites from tracking your IP address or location.
Note: Startpage is now owned by System1, an ad-tech company based in the US.
Jurisdiction: Netherlands (officially, but at least partially owned by a US company)
https://www.startpage.com
Private search engine FAQs
Here are some FAQs (frequently asked questions) with regards to private search engines:
- How do private search engines make money?
- Are US-based search engines safe?
- How to keep your searches private
- Considerations when choosing a private search engine
How do private search engines make money?
Private search engines make money in three ways: contextual advertisements, affiliates, and donations. Let’s examine each of these revenue streams on their own.
1. Contextual advertisements
Just like with Google and Bing, many private search engines make money by placing advertisements in the search results, usually based on the search terms you entered. The difference between private search engines and Google or Bing is that private search engines should only be serving ads based on your search term, rather than from all other data collection sources (email, browsing, etc.).
Note: Some private search engines pass a truncated (anonymized) version of your IP address to the search partner, in order to serve relevant ads for your general location.
2. Affiliate revenue
Many private search engines make money through affiliate programs. DuckDuckGo is an example of this; they are a member of both the Amazon and eBay affiliate programs:
DuckDuckGo is part of the affiliate programs of the eCommerce websites Amazon and eBay. When you visit those sites through DuckDuckGo, including when using !bangs, and subsequently make a purchase, we receive a small commission.
You may also see “online shopping” options above your search results, which are another form of affiliate revenue. Both Qwant and DuckDuckGo use affiliate “shopping” results as sources of income.
Note: When you buy something through an affiliate link, it never increases the price you pay. Rather, it simply transfers a small percentage of the profits (i.e. a commission) to the affiliate, which in this case is the private search engine.
3. Donations
Private search engines may also make money from donations. Anybody can donate to the project, regardless of whether it is an individual developer, a non-profit organization, or a private for-profit business.
If a search engine does not have other sources of revenue or good advertising deals with partners, donations become very important to ensure continued operations. For example, Swisscows, MetaGer, and YaCy all have donation options.
Are US-based search engines safe?
Choosing a private search engine is all based on your unique needs and threat model. Therefore a private search engine that Bob considers to be safe, may not be adequate for Alice.
With regards to US-based search engines, and any other US businesses that handles (or has potential access) to private data, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- The United States has extensive surveillance programs, which are carried out by various branches of government, such as the NSA.
- The US has a long history of working with (and forcing) private tech companies to facilitate bulk data collection efforts – see the PRISM program for details. (This raises questions about private search engines that are being hosted on Amazon infrastructure, a large US-based company.)
- US companies could be served National Security Letters or other lawful data collection demands, while also being prohibited from disclosing this due to gag orders.
These laws and capabilities essentially give the US government the authority to compel a legitimate privacy-focused company to function as a data collection tool for state agencies.
If a privacy-focused business were to be compromised, it would likely happen behind closed doors, without a word (or warning) to the users. This was the case with Lavabit, and rather than comply with the data requests, the founder was basically forced to shut down the business.
As a general rule, RestorePrivacy does not recommend services that are based in the US. Nonetheless, it all depends on your threat model and how much privacy and security you need.
How to keep your searches private
Here are five basic tips for keeping your searches (and data in general) more private.
1. Use a private search engine
Using one of the private search engines in this guide will help keep your data safe from third parties. See the reviews to determine which private search engine best suits your needs.
2. Use a private and secure browser
Just like with search engines, your browser can also reveal lots of private information about you to third parties:
- Browsing history: all the websites you visit
- Login credentials: usernames and passwords
- Cookies and trackers: these are placed on your browser by the sites you visit
- Autofill information: names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.
- Metadata, which can be used for tracking and identification (browser fingerprinting)
Many of the private search engines in this guide offer browser extensions to replace the default search engine for your browser. DuckDuckGo has even become listed as an alternative search engine for browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome.
See our guide on secure browsers here.
3. Use a good VPN service
If you use a good VPN service, you won’t have to worry about search engines logging your IP address and location. A VPN will encrypt your traffic for safe transit across the internet, while also replacing your IP address and location with that of the VPN server you’re connected to. There are many other uses for VPN services and they are an important privacy tool, especially since internet providers in many countries are now collecting browsing history.
Below are my top VPN recommendations:
- NordVPN: A fast, secure, audited VPN with advanced privacy features and a strict no-logs policy, based in Panama (with a 74% discount coupon).
- Surfshark VPN: A no-logs VPN service with a large lineup of privacy and security features, based in The Netherlands.
- ExpressVPN – A reliable, secure, and user-friendly VPN service that is based in the British Virgin Islands with a no-logs policy (audited twice).
And you can get more information on our top recommendations of the best VPN services here. Our ExpressVPN vs NordVPN comparison also examines these two top services in back-to-back tests.
4. Use a good ad blocker
A reliable ad blocker is another important privacy tool since ads have become a major threat to your privacy. Many ads now quietly collect data for third-party advertising networks. Other ads (known as malvertising), actually install malware on your computer or mobile device. The best thing to do these days is to simply block ads and tracking networks.
There are of course many other privacy tools to consider. However, a good private search engine, a secure browser, a reliable VPN, and a safe ad blocker are the top priorities for basic digital self defense.
5. Log out!
Lastly, whenever possible, stay logged out of Big Tech accounts (Gmail, YouTube, Amazon, etc.) when surfing the web, since their trackers will record your browsing activity and link this to your data profile.
Another option is to use one browser for staying logged into various accounts, but then use a separate browser for general browsing activity (this is known as browser compartmentalization).
Important considerations for choosing the best private search engine
Here are some things to consider when looking for the best search engine for privacy:
- Search results – Some search engines may do well in the privacy category, but they don’t return very good results. Some will actively engage in censorship, or display censored search results from Google or Bing.
- Privacy – Consider what information the search engine is logging, as well as the data that may be passed off to third parties and search partners (such as Bing).
- Jurisdiction – Jurisdiction is an important factor to consider because it ultimately affects your data and privacy. Services based in the US, for example, are subject to the Patriot Act, National Security Letters, and may also be forced to collect user data without being allowed to disclose anything (due to gag orders).
- Features – Some private search engines offer useful features, such as anonymous viewing (via proxy servers), search result filtering options, plugins, extensions, and more.
- Mobile apps – More than a year ago, Google reported that they process more search requests from mobile devices than they do from desktops. We live on our mobile devices, so a search engine that offers a mobile app for your specific device could be a big benefit.
- Trust – Trust is difficult to quantify and measure, but it’s a very important consideration. When considering the trust factor, you may want to look at the history of the company and the individuals behind it.
Finding the best search engine for your needs is a subjective process, and there’s no single “best private search engine” that applies to everyone. Check out our reviews, the test drive a few different options to find the best fit for you.
This private search engines guide was last updated on April 26, 2024.
sxoidmal
How would you rate Kagi or Monocles?
MG
Really sad what happened to Metager. Yahoo behaved in a very nasty way. Now more than ever, I will support them. They are the only real private search engine with an anonymous proxy that they do not track you (nothing to block with ublock origin) and away from USA jurisdiction. 2,5€ per month is not that much. I just bought my key!
Yvan
I recommend eTools.ch as eine alternativ.
MG
Thanks! Yvan for providing it. I will have a look at it.
VS
> Now more than ever, I will support them.
Same here. Hopefully they will manage to keep the service running for many years to come.
MG
I agree with you VS. I tried many different ones, but honestly none like Metager. Others track you or once you leave the search page and open any website, you are not protected anymore (Duckduckgo, Brave, Swisscows). Nothing better than using an anonymous proxy for reading blogs or newspapers.
A Sad Man
MetaGer unfortunately went members only yesterday.
https://suma-ev.de/en/eine-aera-geht-zu-ende/
ng
Try search.dismail.de. It is searsNg. More is on
dismail.de
John
Sadly, Metager was forced to shut down their *free* search service on September 10, 2024 16:00 UTC due to a lack of financing. A *paid* search service continues to exist however (called “token-financed search”). Essentially you pay a certain amount upfront and get that amount as a credit. With every search query a tiny fraction is withdrawn from your credit until you have used up your credit. Metager says that as a rule of thumb 5 dollars should last you 2 months.
Yahoo which paid Metager for displaying ads on Metager’s search page has cancelled the contract. Yahoo did so “unilaterally and without any notice on Monday”. This meant Metager did not receive any income from displaying ads any longer.
I am very sad to hear about that. I enjoyed using Metager for many years. For 90% of the search queries the results were good enough. So, it has been a very reliable day-to-day search engine.
Link to Metager’s press release: https://suma-ev.de/en/eine-aera-geht-zu-ende/
Link to token-financed Metager: https://metager.org/keys/ and https://metager.org/keys/cost
Alex Lekander
Oh bummer. We’ll update this article accordingly.
Mike Roe Soft
Alas, this is the reality of search engine…it’s darn expensive!
Private search engines should work together not compete. Gigablast, Mojeek, DuckDuckGo, Swisscows, Brave, Kagi what else? You’re just competing for scraps!
Eli
“With every search query a tiny fraction is withdrawn from your credit”
Too expensive IMO. Each search costs 1 Token (not exactly a fractional transaction), this is 500 searches at most. I use a search engine far more than that each month. Kagi would be the better choice for me.
Tau
To be fair to Yandex the EU has censored access to all Russian media outlets, not only internet based services, and closed down the ones that had a physical representation in all EU countries. So much for the EU’s commitment to freedom and democracy.
vanp
Why should anybody give an outlet to Russian lies and propaganda? If somebody wants what the Russians are peddling, let them go looking for it. We shouldn’t be strengthening Russia by making it easy for them to get their message out.
9o5
Hear, hear. Stop the products out and the money flowing back into russia. Next, shut down the lies.
The planned moves that had to happen.
European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country’s sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia, encompassing the entire northern region of the continent. The two parts of Russia are divided by the Ural Mountains and Ural river, bisecting the Eurasian supercontinent.
European Russia covers the vast majority of Eastern Europe, and spans roughly 40% of Europe’s total landmass, with over 15% of its total population, making Russia the largest and most populous country in Europe.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Russia]
Map
[https://www.infoplease.com/atlas/europe]
Russia is divided into five Federal districts.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_districts_of_Russia]
Alan
You can find more news stories from Americans on Yandex tha. Google or Duck Duck GO. It’s blatantly obvious they’re trying to bury these stories.
Ribbon
Thank you, this is a very in-depth article . Another one to consider is [https://www.digr.co]
shr
Hi RP community
Brave browser is open source, but is BRAVE SEARCH ENGINE also open source, or this part is proprietary ?
BITR
Good question, but its scary to thing maybe 1 update, or with a version change. Open source offerings could derail to a proprietary based purpose.
Take Microsoft which has made significant strides in embracing open source in its operating system. But charges consumers to use their product of an OS.
Remembering, the GitHub acquisition: Microsoft acquired GitHub, the largest host for open source project infrastructure, in 2018.
Microsoft has open sourced some of its code, including the .NET Framework, and made investments in Linux development, server technology, and organizations like the Linux Foundation and Open Source Initiative.
Anyone forging a trip to a software developers TOS and PP pages are left imaged to the understanding of the ground up view. Ex: take a tree, trunk the main software package – limbs and branches where your privacy is shared.
Below ground view will be the foundational roots where your privacy is lost. . .through, partnerships and sub-companies needed to support the trunk. Guised in the legalise there.
BITR
I can’t run down a yes or no for our
present times. These are some comments years eariler about brave search.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/o5qknc/comment/h2p3q22/?context=8&depth=9]
Even eariler (2014 est), a point is made that has been proven in some news posts here @RP. “Trust but Verify”
[https://brendaneich.com/2014/01/trust-but-verify/]
Point made, ‘As a result of laws in the US and elsewhere, prudent users must interact with Internet services knowing that despite how much any cloud-service company wants to protect privacy, at the end of the day most big companies must comply with the law. The government can legally access user data in ways that might violate the privacy expectations of law-abiding users. Worse, the government may force service operators to enable surveillance.
Implications for Browsers:
This creates a significant predicament for privacy and security on the Open Web. Every major browser today is distributed by an organization within reach of surveillance laws. A government may request that browser vendors secretly inject surveillance code into the browsers they distribute to users. We have no information that any browser vendor has ever received such a directive. However, if that were to happen, the public would likely not find out due to gag orders. The unfortunate consequence is that software vendors — including browser vendors — must not be blindly trusted.
[https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409406835469-What-is-the-Web-Discovery-Project]
The Web Discovery Project is a privacy-preserving way for you to contribute to the growth and independence of Brave Search.
Google and Microsoft—collect data about your search behavior, both in the search engine and the browser (like Chrome or Edge). This data includes your queries, what search results you click, the URLs of the pages you visit, time spent on those pages, and metadata (such as page title, content-type, etc) about the pages themselves. Other, non-independent search engines (like DuckDuckGo) don’t necessarily collect data themselves. But they still rely on this kind of collection via their dependence on other big tech indexes (like Bing). And this data can—and often is—associated with you personally.
Also see, How is Brave Search different?
[https://brave.com/search/#independent]
First, and most important, Brave Search adheres to core principles of privacy. We don’t track you, your searches, or your clicks. Ever.
Last point, I found this and its true from my perspective.
‘Whether or not something is open-source, and whether or not something is free-of-charge, are separate factors.
There are plenty of paid products that are open source or source available, and plenty of proprietary/closed source software and services that are free of charge.
That said, I agree it is unlikely that Brave will (or has incentive to) fully open source Brave Search.’
quietme
To add to previous question re Gibiru & Presearch, how about:
1) Ghostery Private Search
2) Search Encrypt
3) you.com
BITR
Alex, with technology changing as fast as the seasons anymore. I see you have an AI Guide, but no comments section there, as its an overview guide in sourcing your AI articles.
Anyway, Brave Search utilises state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to enhance your search experience and provide you with the most useful results. Advanced machine learning models are used broadly and deeply across most parts of the technology stack that powers Brave Search.
[https://search.brave.com/help/ai]
With the search terms – ai crypto scam.
It had this to say,
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in crypto scams, making it a growing concern for crypto users. Scammers are leveraging AI to create sophisticated deepfakes, fake employee images, and automated social media posts to deceive victims and steal their assets.
How AI is Used in Crypto Scams
1 Deepfakes: AI-generated videos and images of celebrities, influencers, and even crypto leaders are being used to promote fake investment opportunities or pump and dump schemes.
2 Fake employee images: AI-generated images of employees or leaders are used to make crypto exchanges or companies appear legitimate.
3 Automated social media posts: AI-powered bots are used to spread fake marketing and messages on a large scale.
4 AI-generated content: AI is used to create fake documents, such as whitepapers, articles, and reviews, to promote fake crypto projects.
Examples of AI Crypto Scams
1 OKX User Scammed: A user lost $2 million after falling victim to a deepfake AI scam on the OKX exchange.
2 NovaDrainer: A crypto affiliate platform based in Canada and the UK offers a scam-as-a-service, using AI to create crypto investment sites and split the proceeds.
3 Jessica: A Reddit user reported losing $1300 to an AI-powered bot that promised huge returns through AI-powered crypto trading.
How to Protect Yourself from AI Crypto Scams
1 Stay informed: Educate yourself about the latest scam tactics and signs of AI-generated content.
2 Verify information: Check the authenticity of information and companies before investing.
3 Use strong passwords: Use complex passwords and keep them secure.
4 Be cautious of unsolicited offers: Be wary of unsolicited investment opportunities or messages.
5 Use reputable exchanges: Only use reputable and well-established crypto exchanges.
Mitigating AI-Enabled Crypto Crime
1 DECODE framework: Use the DECODE framework (detect, educate, cooperate, defend, enforce) to mitigate emerging crime trends.
2 Blockchain analytics: Use blockchain analytics to identify payments to AI-related illicit services.
3 Raise awareness: Educate users and employees on methods to identify deepfakes and AI-generated content.
4 Data sharing: Share data to expand the capabilities of relevant stakeholders to mitigate AI-enhanced crypto crime.
5 Crime-proofing: Ensure that new AI and crypto technologies are crime-proofed during development.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts
Source: Brave AI
Anon
Another one worth looking at is [https://4get.ca]
shr
Don’t support VPN
Mark
Anyone want to try Yacy? Head to https://www.ufo-search.net
quietme
Is the remark that Startpage uses Google as the crawler accurate and up to date? If you use startpage and choose the ‘news’ tab in the results, it is consistently very pro MSN in my experience.
Alex Lekander
I just checked this and it looks like Startpage is now sourcing from both Google and Bing.
“For example, Startpage submits your query to Google and Bing anonymously on your behalf, then returns the results to you, privately. Google and Microsoft do not know who made the search request—instead, they only see Startpage.”
I updated the article with this info.
shr
Sir
long time before SP was no. 1 recommendation of RP.
After sys.1 controversy, it was degraded.
Now it’s back under main recommendations, though at end of the list.
My quarry is, if I use it, should I set eu server as default and avoid US server ?
It was recommended before in RP but in new review not mentioned.
Alex Lekander
It all comes down to personal preference, but I’d go with EU.
Orage Technologies
What do you think which search engine is the best?
User
I consider Metager the best option as it is not only a private search engine, you can also open anonymously
a website using a proxy (avoiding trackers). Their jurisdiction is in Germany not USA. For images and news, DDG or Brave are great ones.
Brandon
Great article from the restoreprivacy team per usual. any thoughts on Kagi? Saw LinusTT mention paying for your own search engine and found this new invention. Never heard of a pay for your own but not self hosted search.
Quite interesting, Been trying it out but haven’t used it to much yet. Wanted to know your teams thoughts?
Cheers.
Alex Lekander
Hey Brandon, this is an interesting business model with paid search. I’ve seen positive user reviews on forums, so I’ll give it a spin and maybe include it in the next round up. Thanks for the tip!
MJ
Search engine is the compass, the map for the internet. Making it paid really hinders Internet navigation.
Jack Sparrow
Other way around. Kagi is the only search engine that I’ve used that has truly uncensored results. Making it paid makes the internet free.
dec
And further to other comments re ‘censorship’/restrictive search results, as a previous lecturer on DB design amongst other things, and as political scientist, it is unassailably true that missing data is by far a far more dangerous insidious problem than false or inaccurate data, albeit that I teach a mantra that ‘bad data is worse than no data’ (but this is not to be confused with DELETED/obscured data).
The deletion or obscuring of available data is an instance of the ‘if a tree falls in the forest and no-one sees it’ metaphor.
To put it clearly:
If a Search, or, in a different very critical ‘use case’, if media organization/s do NOT report some or all available information re some issue, then, by definition, no-one then knows, or can judge and evaluate, that missing/ hidden information, and therefore they will form views, and take, or not take actions, based on that incomplete information, which by definition, must be inherently flawed.
By marked contrast, if, by the same token, a search or media organization, reports false, fake, or mistaken, information, at least then that information is available for comparison (to other relevant data), and evaluation, as to its accuracy and honesty.
Dec
how can Brave be considered secure in the slightest given it is based in the US?
lord rugdumph
i like quackquackgo.net
quietme
I’ve multiple installed including duckduckgo with duckduckgo as the search engine. So many of the news results that come back show the webpage contents in msn rather than than the native webpage in which the article is posted. Now to read the webpage contents in such circumstances, it seems mandatory to install the msn app. No thank you.
Gabe
How? What do you mean? DuckDuckGo isn’t Microsoft, why would it open news in MSN.
quietme
Clarification. search in duck.com and choose the ‘news’ tab in the results. Its very pro-MSN.
quietme
How about?
1) Gibiru
2) Presearch
Flotsam
Where do DuckDuckGo search results come from?
For “more traditional links and images”: “we largely source from Bing”
For Instant Answers, and many other categories of searches, they use a variety of sources, including their own crawler and indexes.
They do not source anything from Google.
https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/sources/
https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/misconceptions/does-duckduckgo-search-use-google-results/
Flotsam
‘the CEO of DuckDuckGo announced that they will “down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.”‘
Can you confirm this? The tweet was not found and https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/misconceptions/did-duckduckgo-censor-russian-ukraine-war-search-results/ says they didn’t.
Jack Sparrow
@Flotsam Yep! Can confirm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEqlGVn8hPg
Mike
Google is undoubtedly ramping up their efforts with the upcoming U.S. and European elections.
https://reclaimthenet.org/google-vows-to-use-ai-work-with-eu-censor-misinformation-hate
Mike
Yandex’s parent company out of Holland has sold its assets to Russian entities. It will be interesting to see if any changes occur.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/05/yandex-to-sell-its-remaining-russian-businesses-for-5-2b-half-its-market-value/
Bob
Qwant has changed as of end of 2023. They constantly ask for security bot checks. They’re intercepting search pages from showing . Now they added a pop up panel to disable ad blockers to see results.. It’s becoming unusable even on mobile.
Haakon
Thank you for the updated private search engines guide.
There is much to consider in protecting one’s online privacy & security (two different but closely related issues). I think many people miss the fact that search engines & web browsers are also two different things but work together. Both must be privacy focused and provide a heightened level of security. Along with using a ad blocker, tracking blocker and a trusted VPN. Wiping history, browsing data, cookies when closing the browser provides a clean slate. Picking a VPN provider was the hardest for me because it is very difficult to find truly unbias and objective reviews. I managed to narrow it down to three after finding a comprehensive and detailed report (White Paper) on 16 VPN providers. Then I went on each of my short listed providers and read every word on every page. It came down to a coin toss between two but picked one based on the best payment option for me. Unlike for some people, price was never a factor for me.
Maria B.
Brave search is very good at privacy but horrible at objectivity. It’s just a private Google, Bing, Yahoo…
Jack Sparrow
I went with Perfect Privacy VPN because it was the ONLY VPN out of all the VPNs that I tested (Hotspot Shield, Vypr VPN, Cyber Ghost, Bitdefender VPN [because Bitdefender is my antivirus vendor, so I thought why not], AirVPN, AdGuard VPN, and Private Internet Access) that passed all of these tests:
https://ipleak.net/
https://www.dnsleaktest.com/
https://diafygi.github.io/webrtc-ips/
https://whoer.net/
While this may not be security related (and it may not be important to those reading this comment), an additional requirement that I had was that the VPN had to have full IPv6 support, and therefore had to pass these tests:
https://test-ipv6.com/
https://ipv6-test.com/
Again, Perfect Privacy passed all of these tests with flying colors while most VPNs out there still won’t so much as support the IPv6 protocol let alone pass any tests. With that being said, even if anyone reading my comment won’t end up going with Perfect Privacy as their VPN provider, please use (and bookmark) these links and make sure to put your VPN through the wringer before making a purchasing decision. [NOTE: I am not affiliated with Perfect Privacy in any way. I’m just a very happy customer.]
DDGsettingsDefaultToGETnotPOST
DDG settings default to GET not POST…Ithougtthiswasbad?????
No direct reply sought.
Thanks
SafetyFreak
Thank you, the info you have provided has been a tremendous help in my search for a more secure and private browsing experience on all my devices.
nobody
Y’all are forgetting searchscene which ended after 2021. It is disappointed that Givero and Neeva shut down.
shr
@sven sir,
what is your view on AI based search engines.
Is there any privacy-friendly among them?
Regards
Sven Taylor
Hi shr, I have not tested any of these AI search engines yet, but when the times comes later in the year I’ll update this page accordingly.
shr
Thanks