It is a well-known fact that the ‘personalized interface’ of Google Search Engine comes at the expense of disclosing our personal data and enabling us to get followed on the internet by Google. At some point, when you see so much tailor-made content and advertisements targeting you, this personalization becomes irritating.
In comparison, many search engines other than Google have too much to do, not just in terms of anonymity, but also in terms of useful functionality.
Everybody uses Google for all kinds of searches. As of 2020, Google holds 92.54% global market share for search engines. This is to show how it has dominated its market. But did you know that Google is not the only search engine to find answers to your queries?
Many other Google alternatives exist that will blow your mind in terms of speed, privacy, and results.
Even though many say “Google it” whenever we have a question, you can still “Bing it” or “Yahoo it.” This is to mention some of the other Google alternatives that can answer your queries without interrupting you with targeted ads.
So, if you’re curious about the other search engines you didn’t know existed, keep reading. Also, if you’re among those who longer find those personalized ads interesting. Or maybe you are an avid reader of privacy blogs like VPNMentor.com, PrivacySavvy, and of course our blog Cybersguards, whose trust in Google has gone down; we have other search engines to hide you from the giant Google.
Let’s dive in.
Google Alternatives for 2021
DuckDuckGo
This is the best google alternative for privacy-focused individuals. Given the threats that internet users face every day, it’s not harmful to surf the web sometimes through DuckDuckGo. Many people use this search engine because they know it never tracks them or monitors their activities online. Do you know what that means! No one is selling your data to marketers who’ll be throwing ads on your face.
Another impressive aspect of DuckDuckGo is the user interface. It is very clean, simple, and straightforward. You don’t need to visit pages before getting what you want. All it takes is a scroll to find the answers to your search.
DDG pulls search results from search engines like Yandex, Yahoo, and others but not from google. It has all the necessary features that Google has but offers a unique feature known as “bangs.” This feature allows a direct search on sites like Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, etc. Just add an exclamation mark (!) to your query like this “! Facebook,” and you’ll search directly on the social platform.
So, if you’re keen on maintaining your anonymity online, add the DuckDuckGo extension. If you don’t want annoying ads while browsing, this search engine is worth your time.
Qwant
Here’s another google alternative search engine that doesn’t use your data for marketing purposes. According to the company, it doesn’t harvest users’ data to send annoying ads to them.
This search engine is a France-based google alternative that offers lots of features. All the features you can find on DuckDuckGo is also in Qwant. It also offers a unique feature called “Qwick Search Shortcut” when you need to directly access other sites.
Qwant has a clean interface that enables users to find trending topics and news stories right there on the homepage. Once you enter a search term, the results will appear in three categories; Web, Social, and News to boost user experience. Also, QWant has a section where a music lover can find lyrics and new releases through Artificial Intelligence.
However, you must remember that Qwant doesn’t track users’ online activities. So, don’t expect any personalized assistance. But when it comes to privacy and music searches, you can count on this Google alternative.
Ecosia
This is another Google alternative that looks almost like it. So if you’re worried that you may not navigate other search engines easily, Ecosia is for you. It offers lots of features like safe search, automatic suggestions, notifications from trees, etc. If you also want to get some personalized suggestions on the search engine, you can enable it yourself.
Ecosia has a clean user interface that looks similar to Google. It has been around since 2009, and you can use it in seven languages. Bing powers the Ecosia search engine, and that’s why it can generate unique identifiers for users and shares them with Bing for personalized suggestions.
But don’t worry about privacy because Ecosia doesn’t track your online activities like Google. Even after assigning the identifier and sharing it with Bing, it deletes it immediately to avoid any record of what you do.
So, if you’re out for a search engine that won’t track you or collect your data, Ecosia got your back there.
Yahoo
This is not just a search engine, but it’s a dependable online platform with many functionalities. Many people are still using Yahoo for their queries every day, even if you’ve forgotten it. Yahoo is occupying the fourth position in market share, although it is even older than Google.
Yahoo portal offers many services to millions of people all over the world. It serves as a games center, news aggregator, online shopping center, travel directory, etc. Yahoo also serves as the default engine for Mozilla Firefox, and it supports up to 38 languages.
Now, Yahoo has integrated with Flicker for a better image result. It also features important sections like Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Answers to improve user experience on the portal. This search engine may not be the best in protecting user privacy, but it does it better than Google.
So, if you’re willing to try a google alternative with more than one function, “Yahoo it” today.
Search Encrypt
This is one search engine to use when you’re feeling like experimenting outside Google. Also, if you don’t want any engine collecting your data online for marketing goals, use Search Encrypt. According to the website, every search a user makes on the engine is usually secured with local encryption. It is practically impossible to track any identifiable information that a visitor uses on the site.
This search engine has not been online long, but its daily visitors are above 23 million. It may be because it takes user privacy to another level and also has lots of impressive features. One impressive thing about Search Encrypt is that it deletes your browsing history every 15 minutes, you’re not online. So, even if someone tries to spy on your activities via your computer, they won’t find anything.
So, here is your search engine that protects you from exploiters online and offline.
Swisscows
The first name which we used to identify this search engine was Hulbee. So if you’re wondering where it went, here it is in 2020 bearing Swisscows. This search engine’s main attraction is that it has an inbuilt filter that protects children from inappropriate content. Parents love this search engine because it can remove violent and pornographic content from searches.
We also love Swisscows because it protects users’ privacy, maybe because its servers are in Switzerland, a country with the scariest privacy laws. No wonder it doesn’t have any business storing your identifiers such as search queries, personal data, IP addresses, etc. Even though it pulls data from Bing, Swisscows is an amazing Google alternative.
When it comes to ads, this search engine follows your query to bring them up. It also presents users with suggestion tags when they input any query on it. So, if you’re a parent who doesn’t want to expose his/her children to useless content, consider using Swisscows. It protects its visitor and also helps them to find more than they remembered through the suggestion tags.
Yandex
This is a website that occupies the fifth position in the global search engine market. But it dominates the Russian market with a whopping 65% market share when it comes to the local position. Many people in that country use it, but some Europeans also love it as an efficient google alternative.
Yandex has many impressive services such as translator, mobile apps, cloud storage, mailing service, analytics, and a web browser. That’s why many people consider Yandex as a Google competitor.
The most amazing aspect of Yandex is that it offers a cleaner search result page than Google. Users can also search through news, images, and videos, just like what you can do on Google. But when it comes to privacy, Yandex is not our choice. It’s a Russian-based search engine, and you know what that means.
But if you’re in Russia and want to use another search engine besides Google, Yandex got your back.
StartPage
This search engine gives you all the results you need from Google, but it doesn’t track your online activities. With StartPage, you can browse any website through proxies without compromising your identity and privacy.
StartPage is one search engine where you can be free from cookies. It uses a custom URL generator so that it won’t need to set cookies on the site. That way, users can save their settings without privacy issues.
If you want to be creative and personal, StartPage allows you to change its theme to what suits your sight. You can use any of the modes it offers, such as Dark mode, Air, Black, White, etc., for a more personalized experience.
If you don’t want to miss Google but want to run away from that tracking, use StartPage. It doesn’t ever store your personal information.
Gibiru
Are you someone who’s always hitting the walls due to censorship? Here’s your chance to access content freely? This search engine is as old as Ecosia and has grown in popularity since then. No one loves to be locked out of their target content or online service. That’s why you should consider this Google alternative for anonymous access from anywhere in the world.
The next best thing about Gibiru is that it doesn’t track your online activities. It takes only a few seconds for all your search queries on the portal to disappear. So, you can say goodbye to online and offline spies with this google alternative.
This search engine has an “AnonymouX Firefox” plugin, which you must download from its “PROXY” page. This plugin will enable you to send your requests via its proxy IP address. So, to avoid censorship and maintain your online privacy, use Gibiru.
SearX
One thing we love about SearX is that it pulls search results from multiple sources but still protects users from exploits. SearX presents answers to your queries from sources like Wikipedia, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Google, etc.
This search engine is an open-source portal which makes it available for contributions on GitHub and a source code review. Anyone can also customize it and host it on their server as their own. You can change the settings in its “Preference” sections, and you can also use it to improve your torrenting experience. If you need to find the magnet link to particular files, SearX makes it possible.
This is a search engine that allows for user involvement as you can customize it as you want. Most of the Google alternatives don’t have such a setting and preferences as SearX.
Yippy
Yippy is an excellent google alternative when it comes to privacy and a simple user interface. The search engine does not need to track your online activities or distract you with targeted ads. You can search for every kind of content such as blogs, news, websites, government data, images, and jobs.
Yippy is not too impressive in providing all the results your query deserves like others. But you can easily filter the results that come in different categories like time, source, and topics. That way, you can get the relevant ones quickly.
Bing
This is the second largest search engine in terms of market share. Many people use Microsoft Bing because it offers lots of tools to enhance user experience.
One thing that impresses us about this search engine is the background. Bing keeps users enthralled with multiple arrays of background pictures of people, animals, sports, places, etc. Also, it offers an enhanced video search experience via large thumbnails that you can preview with sounds. All you need to do is hover over the thumbnails, and it plays.
There’re lots of features to admire in Bing. It has a translation feature, flight tracking, currency conversion, sports score, spell check, etc. Also, this search engine has mobile applications for iOS and Android users as well.
So, if you’re searching for a Google alternative that ensures the best video search experience with a lot of features for programmers, Bing it!
Final Words
There’re many Google alternatives out there, and we’ve selected the best out of them while emphasizing privacy. Even though the number one search engine, DuckDuck, is everyone’s favorite when it comes to being a secure Google alternative, it doesn’t mean others are not worth a try.
One common thing among all the above-listed search engines is that they take users’ privacy seriously than Google. You even get to access censored contents anonymously using a search engine like Gibiru. So, it’s time to look elsewhere for answers from time to time instead of Googling it all the time
