4 alternatives to Google’s search engine

You may no longer think about some aspects of modern, Western life. Whether it’s your favorite coffee, the smartphone brand you like best or headphones from a specific manufacturer, your habits remain the same. The same applies to using a search engine. Google’s was officially launched more than 25 years ago, and many – many – people have stuck around ever since. All those users have made Google, or Alphabet, the conglomerate it has become today.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. If you are satisfied with your choices, don’t be fooled into thinking that you need to do or try something else. But sometimes it doesn’t hurt to just be aware of your surroundings and see what else is available. After all, Google makes a lot of money from your online behavior, and is therefore now closely monitored. Other search engines are now given more space on the search market due to a new law, so you may wonder: what are other good search engines?

DuckDuckGo: for your privacy

The first one we’ll look at is DuckDuckGo. Perhaps the best-known alternative search engine at the moment, next to perhaps Bing from Microsoft. DuckDuckGo guarantees that your privacy is protected because the program never stores your search history, IP address or other personal data. The search results are therefore effectively anonymous (although it is of course possible that the browser you use does store data, but DuckDuckGo cannot do anything about that). Moreover, the search environment is also clean and tidy.

As soon as you visit the website or open the app, you are greeted with a search engine. After performing a search, you can quickly switch content types at the top: images, videos, news, maps, shopping and more. Be sure to check the Settings tab to further adjust the search engine to your personal preference. There you can, for example, change the font and size, but also adjust the language. Filters are also available to create a safe environment for every user.

Swisscows: for the family

If it’s purely about a safe environment, then you might be better off trying Swisscows. This Google alternative focuses mainly on offering a family-friendly environment, where inappropriate content does not pass through. If you do search for a specific hub, a message will appear stating that such content is blocked. The difference with DuckDuckGo is that search data is stored (to improve the product), but it cannot be directly linked to the person who carried out the search.

Brave: the independent party

Another fairly well-known search engine is Brave. This is a unique, independent search engine that does not use search indexes to improve results. Instead, users can make their own additions through the Brave Web Discovery Project. The search results are also completely private. This makes this a kind of search engine for the people, of the people. With over 22 million daily searches, Brave still has a long way to go; Google processes around 8.5 billion of them every day. Billion, yes.

Nevertheless, 22 million searches is not a bad number. This makes this one of the fastest growing alternatives, next to Bing. The team behind it has been able to significantly improve the search engine in recent months. The design is also nice and minimalist, with a simple search bar and the standard options at the top. Just like in Google, you can also generate contextual answers with Brave. So if you are looking for something, you will quickly find additional background information through photos, text and more.

Ecosia: eco-friendly alternative

The last search engine we will highlight is Ecosia. This option stands out because it presents itself as an eco-friendly alternative. The company behind the product wants to reforest the earth and with every search, that project takes more and more shape. On the homepage you can see how many trees have now been planted; and with the income generated by the searches, Ecosia can support all kinds of forest projects worldwide. Finally, with Ecoasia you can see which companies are polluting and which are truly eco-friendly organizations.