DuckDuckGo is an internet search service similar to Google. It has a similar interface, and is used in the same way. On the face of the homepage you will see a minimal; logo, search bar, scrolling tagline, and an index in the corner for options of further action. The difference between DuckDuckGo and Google is that DuckDuckGo aims to protect the privacy of its users, by intentionally not tracking any personal information. This is valuable to a user for a few reasons; by not collecting personal data, a user’s identity is protected against mistakes that even Google has admitted to have, where a leak of peoples’ information becomes available to harmful hackers, and; by not collecting any personal data, DuckDuckGo has no data to share, for government official requests which can be used against you in court.
I chose to search the query, “online privacy”, on both DuckDuckGo and Google to test whether- aside from completely different approaches to privacy- there were any fundamental differences between the two search services. There aren’t many. The results on the two pages were almost virtually identical: each had a couple ads, and the results for the first few pages were the same, site for site. The ads on DuckDuckGo are easier to distinguish as they are displayed horizontally, and on Google are listed in the same format as a typical search result with a small “AD” icon.
Second, I tested the results for the query, “how does google search work.” Same deal. The results, including links for videos and definitions, were practically identical. So, I tested with this second query if there were any difference between the amount of results- and there were. Google displayed it had a significant amount of results more than DuckDuckGo:
Google “online privacy” - about 155,000,000 results
DuckDuckGo “online privacy” -5 pages of results (about 150)
Google “how does google search work” -almost 277,000,000 results
DuckDuckGo “how does google search work” -4 pages of results (about 120)
After the first five pages, where Google continues to have results and DuckDuckGo concludes, the relevance of the sites begin to loosen. It turns out that Google agrees that for the hundreds of millions of sites that use the terms in the query, that many or any of them will most likely not be what I’m looking for, and when attempting to view the depth of the results, tells you so. In actuality, the sites compare more as such:
Google “how does google search work” -about 167 relevant results
DuckDuckGo “how does google search work” -about 120 relevant results
The results conclude that for what I’m actually looking for, both sites are equally as helpful, and resourceful. The question as to which service is better, comes down to the question of what a user would prefer their privacy on the internet to be. Both sites have their policies readily available for visitors to review, and are both transparent in what information they collect, and how they share it. It would be wise to consider the privacy policy when deciding which site or service you chose to use.
By comparing the sites as search services, I’ve learned a lot about the issue of privacy. The services are just about the same, except for very different, practically opposite, privacy settings. The issue of personal privacy is huge considering the vast population that uses internet services such as search engines. I believe it is important for all internet users to know about the privacy policies of the sites they use, and of the alternative options, such as DuckDuckGo, that are available.