cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/4448974

I’ve recently started using a self hosted SearXNG instance but I’m still using the search engines enabled by default (google, duckduckgo and qwant). What search engines do you have enabled or which ones do you feel you’ve gotten the best results with?

  • banazir@lemmy.ml
    12·
    1 year ago

    I’ve stuck with DuckDuckGo for years. It’s mostly gotten pretty good if you search in English. Other languages can be iffy.

  • rizoid@midwest.socialEnglish
    12·
    1 year ago

    I can’t be bothered to self host a search engine. I just stick to duck duck go and I’ve tried some whoogle instances but I just prefer ddg at this point.

  • ccf@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    1 year ago

    SearXNG, it was fairly easy to get used to coming from duckduckgo because !! uses the same !bang search as ddg. (honestly !bang searches were the only thing keeping me on ddg)

    • Fisch@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I’m already using SearXNG. The point of my question is to find out what search engines I should enable in it.

  • Killercat103@infosec.pub
    3·
    1 year ago

    Presearch. I don’t care for the crypto features. (I already got Monero anyway) but the concept of a decentralized search engine is interesting.

  • Saki@monero.townEnglish
    3·
    1 year ago

    I just did some tests on DDG (sorry OP, not related to SearXNG). If you use it normally, they put a lot of images from URL like improving.duckduckgo.com/t/we?monitor=you&spying=secretly&id=etc (supposedly for improving DDG by gathering statistical blah blah). Their no-JavaScript version is much less invasive.

    Solution(s): 1) uBlock is highly recommended, 2) if possible disable JS, 3) try Tor Browser, which is just an anonymity version of Firefox

      • Saki@monero.townEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Thanks, didn’t know LibreJS. Its concept is interesting. But there is a libre tracking JavaScript too. Besides, these tracking URLs on DDG are images (“web bugs”), not scripts. uBlock blocks these things on DDG already on its own.

        Noscript can easily disable JavaScript for specific domain(s). One can install this add-on (or if you use TB it’s already there by default). So if disabling JS partially or totally is acceptable, that’s one of the options for DDG.

      • LazerDickMcCheese
        1·
        1 year ago

        Does a public instance ID or log users? I never even considered it because it seems risky, like I’m asking for backdoor access to my network

        • Mac@federation.redEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          It does forward your real IP to the search engines so that google doesn’t flake out on me. But otherwise I am not logging anything haha

    • TechieDamien@lemmy.ml
      1·
      1 year ago

      There are public instances you can use, or if you want it locally hosted, there is wsl2. (Alternatively, join the dark side and install linux!)

  • Saki@monero.townEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    uBlock + (MetaGer or Searx or DDG/html[no JS]), via Tor 24/7. Onion available. Individually, hit and miss. In total, good enough for me. While DDG is okay (the default search engine for Tor Browser, Tails), intuitively I don’t fully trust it. Its no-JS version is acceptable.

  • TheSun@slrpnk.net
    2·
    1 year ago

    I used to use searx for a couple years but it got too unreliable where it would fail to load results all the time randomly. Tried DDG and consistently ended up having to manually switch to google after the results on DDG just weren’t good enough (think troubleshooting linux issues and stuff, DDG would never find the obscure answer in a forum but google would).

    Anyways, ofc the goal wasn’t to end up back at google so now I’ve been using startpage for the last few months and it seems to work great with no issues.

  • LainOfTheWired@lemy.lolEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I’m planing on self hosting a Searx instance. But right now I’m very happy with DuckDuckGo. I find I get less biased results and a lot of the time I prefer it’s results to google. And for the odd time I want an image and DDG isn’t giving me what I want I use bing, which is probably the best search engine for images from my experience.

    • 3yiyo3@lemmy.ml
      4·
      1 year ago

      Unfortunately DDG blocks piracy related searches and torrents, that’s why I don’t support them anymore, also they plan on banning “misinformation” whatever that means. I don’t like it anymore.