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Which privacy-focused search engine are you using?

TL;DR - which privacy-focused search engine do people recommend, preferably one that can also easily be used as a default option in Safari?

I ditched Google in about 2016ish I would guess, and since then have used DDG as my default search engine.

As someone entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, it’s always seemed like a sound choice, as it’s one of the search engines built in to Safari on both iOS and macOS.

After spending a bit more time recently playing around with and updating my Docker containers, I started hosting a Whoogle container, which seemed to work pretty well, but I don’t see many out there talking about it, so not sure how good it actually is. I then tried a SearXNG container, but either had it misconfigured or just wasn’t getting many search results back.

At the moment I’m trying out Startpage, but I know there are potential privacy concerns since they were part-bought in 2019 by a US ad-tech company.

I’m also playing around with different browsers at the moment, flicking between Safari, Firefox and Brave. At which point I stumbled across Brave Search, which seems pretty promising.

So, which search engines do you all recommend?

UPDATE: Probably should’ve done a poll! But latest (if I’ve captured everything correctly) is:

  • DuckDuckGo - 10
  • Qwant / SearXNG / Kagi / Brave - 4
  • Startpage / Ecosia - 2
  • Google - 1

As to my other questions around browsers:

  • Majority seem to use Firefox
  • Some mentions of Brave
  • One mention of Arc
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  • I'm using an Ad-, Tracking- etc blocker in all my devices, so I'm not too worried about using Google or Bing when I do.

    But I'm hosting my own instance of SearchXNG and that's often simply the most powerful and flexible search engine.

    • Also self-host SearchXNG. Its definitely the way to go. I like you can choose which search engines to pull from

      • I replied to another comment on here saying that I'd tried this once before, via a Docker container, but just wasn't getting any results back (kept getting timeouts from all the search engines).

        I've just revisited it, and still get the timeouts. Reckon you're able to help me troubleshoot it?

        Below are the logs from Portainer:

         File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 165, in get
            return request('get', url, **kwargs)
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 98, in request
            raise httpx.TimeoutException('Timeout', request=None) from e
        httpx.TimeoutException: Timeout
        2023-08-06 09:58:13,651 ERROR:searx.engines.soundcloud: Fail to initialize
        Traceback (most recent call last):
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 96, in request
            return future.result(timeout)
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/lib/python3.11/concurrent/futures/_base.py", line 458, in result
            raise TimeoutError()
        TimeoutError
        The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
        Traceback (most recent call last):
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/search/processors/abstract.py", line 75, in initialize
            self.engine.init(get_engine_from_settings(self.engine_name))
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 69, in init
            guest_client_id = get_client_id()
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 45, in get_client_id
            response = http_get("https://soundcloud.com")
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 165, in get
            return request('get', url, **kwargs)
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 98, in request
            raise httpx.TimeoutException('Timeout', request=None) from e
        httpx.TimeoutException: Timeout
        2023-08-06 09:58:13,654 ERROR:searx.engines.soundcloud: Fail to initialize
        Traceback (most recent call last):
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 96, in request
            return future.result(timeout)
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/lib/python3.11/concurrent/futures/_base.py", line 458, in result
            raise TimeoutError()
        TimeoutError
        The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
        Traceback (most recent call last):
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/search/processors/abstract.py", line 75, in initialize
            self.engine.init(get_engine_from_settings(self.engine_name))
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 69, in init
            guest_client_id = get_client_id()
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 45, in get_client_id
            response = http_get("https://soundcloud.com")
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 165, in get
            return request('get', url, **kwargs)
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
          File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 98, in request
            raise httpx.TimeoutException('Timeout', request=None) from e
        httpx.TimeoutException: Timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikidata: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.google: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.qwant: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.startpage: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikibooks: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiquote: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikisource: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.wikipecies: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiversity: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.wikivoyage: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.brave: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,481 WARNING:searx.engines.wikidata: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,481 ERROR:searx.engines.wikidata: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.457878380082548 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,482 WARNING:searx.engines.wikisource: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,484 ERROR:searx.engines.wikisource: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.460748491808772 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,485 WARNING:searx.engines.brave: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,485 ERROR:searx.engines.brave: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.461546086706221 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,487 WARNING:searx.engines.google: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,487 ERROR:searx.engines.google: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.463769535068423 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,489 WARNING:searx.engines.wikiversity: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,489 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiversity: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.466003180015832 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 WARNING:searx.engines.wikivoyage: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 ERROR:searx.engines.wikivoyage: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.466597221791744 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 WARNING:searx.engines.qwant: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 ERROR:searx.engines.qwant: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.4669976509176195 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,491 WARNING:searx.engines.wikibooks: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,491 ERROR:searx.engines.wikibooks: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.4674198678694665 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,491 WARNING:searx.engines.wikiquote: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,492 WARNING:searx.engines.wikipecies: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,492 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiquote: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.468321242835373 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,492 ERROR:searx.engines.wikipecies: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.468797960784286 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,496 WARNING:searx.engines.duckduckgo: ErrorContext('searx/engines/duckduckgo.py', 98, 'res = get(query_url, headers=headers)', 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,497 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.47349306801334 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,511 WARNING:searx.engines.startpage: ErrorContext('searx/engines/startpage.py', 214, 'resp = get(get_sc_url, headers=headers)', 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:02:05,511 ERROR:searx.engines.startpage: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.487425099126995 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:04:27,475 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:04:27,770 WARNING:searx.engines.duckduckgo: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
        2023-08-06 10:04:27,771 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 3.2968566291965544 s, timeout: 3.0 s) : TimeoutException
        2023-08-06 10:04:50,094 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: engine timeout
        2023-08-06 10:04:50,187 WARNING:searx.engines.duckduckgo: ErrorContext('searx/engines/duckduckgo.py', 98, 'res = get(query_url, headers=headers)', 'httpx.ConnectTimeout', None, (None, None, 'duckduckgo.com')) False
        2023-08-06 10:04:50,187 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 3.0933595369569957 s, timeout: 3.0 s) : ConnectTimeout
        

        The above is a simple search for "best privacy focused search engines 2023", followed by the same search again but using the ddg! bang in front of it.

        I can post my docker-compose if it helps?

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