Startpage or DuckDuckGo

[kualk@lemm.ee]

I’ve been disappointed by many and don’t trust commercial space.

Dig around and you will find no so pleasant information on DDG and Kagi. I suspect same is true for any business backed search.

I used both and eventually run into negative information, which made me reconsider both. I started with DDG, then Kagi.

It is SearNXG all the way and there are no regrets so far. Other post on it is the best option.

[zerush@lemmy.ml]

I use several search engines. All have their + and -. As main search I use Andi, apart Startpage, Mojeek, Whoogle, Ghostery Search, Groot and some others, apart some specific ones, like Forums, Pixabay, Wolphram Alpha,, etc., I find what I'm searching for. Multisearch engines are fine, but they don't show the same results of the engines which API's they use.
Apart of privacy, it's mayby more important to avoid search engines which logs the searh history, because the filter bubble effect, causing an biased information.

[tribblesbestfriend@startrek.website]

Yes. Don’t know why I change the name

[moonpiedumplings@programming.dev]

Can't you run ddg without javascript, on their plain html version?

https://html.duckduckgo.com/html/

[xnx@slrpnk.net]

Is brave search a proxy version of google or did they build their own index?

[xnx@slrpnk.net]

What negative information have you found about Kagi?

[land@lemmy.ml]

They built their own index, but if the search engine can’t find what you’re looking for, they have an option to show you results from Google or Bing.

[kualk@lemm.ee]

Owner is spending all resources into AI neglecting actual search.

There was something else, but I forgot.

[nahmarcas@lemmy.ml]

Still cannot see other thing than websites entries in minimalist form, SP can show images, videos and more

[doodledup@lemmy.world]

You can turn the AI off. And it's not bad at all. I find it quiet useful sometimes. Plus, it's private.

[doodledup@lemmy.world]

I got an article about polar bears as 7th result for the search "Monkey". Great...

[rvtv95xbeo@sh.itjust.works]

I mean sure, if you ignore the first 20 or so relevant links before that, you're right, that one does show up when searching for monkey (proof)

You can add literally any other word to the search and that one result disappears. Even bear monkey. Regardless of the fact that no one searches for just the word monkey, I find Kagi's rankings consistently prioritize more quality and informative content.

Comparing to other search engines, Google is obsessed with the movie The Monkey, Bing really wants you to watch Monkey Baby Bon Bon live what looks like a nightmare life, Brave gives an OK mix of content, still with a The Monkey focus, and Kagi gives you a really solid mix of results across the monkey spectrum for such a vague query (plus one whole link to an article about polar bears).

If the polar bear result specifically bothers you, you can report it to Kagi and I'm sure they'll fix it. I'm still happy with my choice though.

[rvtv95xbeo@sh.itjust.works]

And, 12h later, I checked back and the polar bear result is gone. Either it was a glitch in the matrix or the Kagi team has eyes everywhere.

[checkfit@lemmy.world]

Why it's controversial? Kagi not secure/private enough?

[rvtv95xbeo@sh.itjust.works]

1. People don't like the idea of paying for stuff they're used to getting for free

2. Privacy Guides does not include Kagi in their recommendations because an account is required in order to search, despite it being against their privacy policy to log, and despite the fact that they allow "no-log" VPNs, messaging apps, etc. which all require accounts. They're starting to soften to Kagi with their new Privacy Pass feature, however they seem hung up on the fact you need an account to generate private tokens. Accounts can be made with burner emails and paid with crypto.

3. Kagi leadership has had some controversial opinions on search censorship (they're fairly blanket opposed to it) and other social issue in the past

4. In addition to search, Kagi offers AI tools, which is a turn-off for a lot of people

To me, none of these things are deal breakers, but some folks are eager for an excuse to complain.