Google likely alters queries billions of times a day in trillions of different variations. Here’s how it works. Say you search for “children’s clothing.” Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for “NIKOLAI-brand kidswear,” making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren’t searching for at all. It’s not possible for you to opt out of the substitution. If you don’t get the results you want, and you try to refine your query, you are wasting your time. This is a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape.
DDG gives me better search results now. I was arguing with someone a few years back about how Google gives better results when searching for programming answers. Not anymore. I pretty much only use Google out of desperation when other searches failed.
DDG is equally guilty of “we didn’t find many results for what you asked for, so here’s something else.”
IF THERE’S ONLY A FEW THINGS MATCHING WHAT I SEARCHED FOR… THAT’S WHAT I’M FUCKING SEARCHING FOR!
Searx considers your Booleans and never cuts them. It feels like stepping a decade back, in the best possible way. It’s not perfect but it’s the best free search engine currently in existence. Host your own or toss a bit of money at someone for saving you the first step.
DDG also ignores “sentences marked by quotes” and sometimes -negative search terms.