Searching

“Just Google it.” A refrain that’s become a part of our language and is generally considered to be synonymous with ‘search for it.” But did you know that you have search engines you can use besides Google? Why would you want to use a different search engine? Some are uncomfortable giving Google all that information and would like some privacy or anonymity in their searches. That’s our main subject today: alternative search engines. As a secondary to\pic, I’ll briefly discuss why you might not want to use your Internet Service Provider’s (ISP’s) email for your email solution.

Google isn’t all that private

You’re still giving Google your search criteria and the links you follow. Incognito mode simply doesn’t store your history or cookies on your computer. Google still sees it as well as knowing which sites you go to from your search results. If you really want privacy or anonymity you’ll need to use a different search engine.

Alternative search engines

There are several search engines you can use, and there are different reasons to pick one over the other. Some reasons are privacy and anonymity, enhancing search with or access to a Generative AI from the search results, or just an alternative to Google. I’ll do a short summary of a few of the alternatives.

Bing (https://www.bing.com/) is Microsoft’s search engine. When you do a search from your desktop you’ll see a summary on the right side of the search results. You can also submit your search to their Generative AI, Copilot, from the search results page. So, it offers not just search results but a summary and easy access to an AI to assist in your search. Bing doesn't concentrate on privacy or anonymity - you are handing your search and the results you follow to Microsoft.

DuckDuckGo (https://duckduckgo.com/) concentrates on privacy. When you search with DuckDuckGo it will, among other things, block ads and doesn’t keep track of which results you select. It uses Bing for its search engine, so Bing can see what you’ve searched for. Since nothing besides your search parameters are passed to Bing, Bing doesn’t know who you are. The search results are just that: results with no summary. They have extensions for the common browsers which can remove trackers from the web pages you visit. They also have their own browser which also concentrates on privacy. The main search page shows a comparison between their browser and Google Chrome.

Brave has a search engine, too (https://search.brave.com/). They use their own index of the web, like Bing but unlike DuckDuckGo. They claim to be more privacy focused than DuckDuckGo and even has a web page dedicated to that comparison at https://brave.com/compare/duckduckgo-vs-brave-search/. They provide a summary of the search results at the beginning of the results and, so far there’s no way to disable that feature. They also have their own browser, available on the usual operating systems, which provides even more privacy protection and features. They have a web page that compares their browser to DuckDuckGo at https://brave.com/compare/duckduckgo-browser-vs-brave/ and, honestly, is the browser that I prefer to use.

Perplexity (https://www.perplexity.ai/) is an AI-enhanced search engine. It’s generally considered to be fairly private in that its Terms of Service says it collects information about you but doesn’t share it with third parties. It doesn’t serve ads. The main reason to use it is for the AI component. It searches the web in real time, summarizes those results and presents them to you with citations as to where it found the information. In fact, you can ask Perplexity how secure it is! I tend to use it when I am more interested in answers than pure search results.

Lastly, I’ll mention Yahoo Search (https://search.yahoo.com/) simply because it is probably one of the oldest search engines put there. It started out as a directory and became a full fledged search engine fairly early on. Nowadays it uses Bing, Microsoft’s engine, to power its searches. I don’t see anything special about it and I only mention it because of its historical significance.

Secondary topic: why you shouldn’t use your ISP for your email

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is the entity that provides you with Internet access (for instance, Comcast, Verizon, etc.). I see a lot of my friends who have an email address from their Internet provider (for example, comcast.net, pacbell.net). Why do I discourage using such an address? Two main reasons. First, it ties you to your Internet provider. If you move or change providers, poof, your access is generally gone. Second, you’re giving your provider access to your email. There are plenty of free email providers out there: Google.com. Outlook.com, ProtonMail.com, Apple/iCloud Mail (https://www.icloud.com/mail/), and many others. It can be painful to switch but once you have you are free from your Internet provider. They each have different levels of privacy features so be sure to check out their privacy policies and Terms of Service. ProtonMail is specifically privacy focused so if that’s a concern, give them a look first.

That’s all for this time

I hope you now know about a few alternative search engines and will give them a try. And if you’re so inclined, check out an alternative email provider if you’re now using your ISP’s email. Don't hesitate to write to me if you have questions!

As always, my intent is to help you understand the basics and equip you to search for more detailed information.

Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, suggestions, requests for future columns, to sign up for my newsletter, or whatever at [email protected] or just drop me a quick note and say HI!

If you like, you can read my most recent newsletter in the Hillsboro Times Gazette at https://go.ttot.link/TG-Column - I should have that link updated shortly after this edition of the newsletter appears in the online version of the newspaper.