The private search engine DuckDuckGo’s traffic may have increased dramatically in the last couple of week’s, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is quick to jump ship and abandon Google’s watchful eye.  There are still billions more Google Searchers than those who rely on the duck, but that may change as more people come to realize just how much data Google collects about them.

Don’t Track US:

DDG has a brilliant page dedicated to informing people how Google and other search engines like Bing track their searches to deliver those annoying targeted ads.  Essentially, the page details how every query you perform on Google Search is saved and can be sold to third parties (not just advertisers, but also the government and insurance companies, for example). Using the data sold to them by search engines, all kinds of entities can learn about you and your interests, and track your online activities.

DDG boasts that it doesn’t save any personal information at all, so your search history will never be given to third parties. Therefore, you can be assured that third parties will not be able to build up any ‘profile’ about you.

If you haven’t tried DuckDuckGo, you should give it a go – it’s dead easy to use and the results it throws up are easily on a par with Google’s, only with less ads thrown in your face.

Turbo Charged Search:

When you land on DDG’s page, you’ll see their duck logo smack bang in the middle, which brings you to its about page if you click on it.  Below the logo is the search bar where you input your query.  On the right side of the search bar are two buttons, a magnifying glass that you click when you want to commence with searching, plus a dropdown button.

This dropdown button is a great little feature that allows for easier and more specific searches.  There’s also the “I’m feeling ducky” option, which brings up DuckDuckGo’s !bang commands.  These can deliver you directly to the page of whatever site or company you’re looking for. As an example, a search for “!Apple” takes you directly to its site.  There are !bang shortcuts for all kinds of things too, such as Amazon (!a), Google Images (!gi), Bing Images (!bi), Maps (!m), News (!n), Wikipedia (!w), and YouTube (!yt). These can all be accessed by just clicking on the dropdown button, then entering your search query for a more organized search result.  Or if you’re uncertain as to what you’re looking for, you can just choose the ‘show all bang’ option (!bang).

Then below the Search bar is “Search anonymously.  Find instantly.”  The first link is for the Don’t Track US link, while the second one redirects you to DuckDuckGoodies – essentially, special  search queries that give you instant answers on top.

Like I said, it’s easy to use and it won’t take more than a few days to become familiar with its interface.

DuckDuck on the Go

Searching anonymously is not limited to web search either, as DDG has just announced new apps available for download on both iOS and Android.

Both versions work as easily as the web version and provide the same privacy measures. The apps can save your most recent searches, but this can easily be turned off on the apps’ settings accessible in the top left corner of the app, beside the search bar.  DDG even offers the !bang command on its mobile apps –  just tap on the search bar to bring up the exclamation button.

Aside from regular searches, DuckDuckGo’s mobile apps also offer something that the website doesn’t have, in the form of ‘social news stories’. Users will be greeted with top stories from different news sources when they launch the app.  Basically, this means that DuckDuckGo’s app doubles as a search engine and some kind of a news reader.

It’s like an all in one app, no need to launch a separate app to get your daily fill of top news, with the added benefit that you’ll no longer feel as if someone is always looking over your shoulder.