Switching to StartPage from DuckDuckGo

[Renegade]

I've been finding that far too often I end up searching with "!g" with DuckDuckGo. I really like DDG, but, a bit tired of always doing 2 searches. DDG is great for a lot of general searches, but I just search for too much stuff that's off the beaten path or highly specific.

Anyways, I'm switching over to Start Page:

https://startpage.com

How have people found it?

(Anything else out there that's worth looking at?)

[4wd]

You'll get less results than if you went through Google but you do get the benefit of not having to use cookies if you don't want to while still keeping all the settings for a customised search by going into the settings, change things and then generate a Custom plugin.

You can also proxy through Ixquick if you want to visit a result anonymously.

StartPage is my default search engine for anything typed into the location bar or search field in Pale Moon but I also use Advanced URL Builder so I can just highlight text anywhere and pick another search engine.

I also use GreaseMonkey with the Google Hit Hider by Domain userscript which lets you 1-click block results in StartPage also ... BANG! www.facebook.com Perma-banned! 

[ewemoa]

Mostly pretty decent (while once in a while not able to get through).

[Deozaan]

If they are so good at protecting privacy, why do they need to track which browser I'm using in their URL?

https://startpage.com/do/search?query=%s&cat=web&pl=chrome&language=english

[ewemoa]

How did you end up with that?

For reference, I checked the search plugin (from Mycroft I think) installed here for Firefox to see what might be submitted.  Below is a copy-pasting of the content:

<SearchPlugin xmlns="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/" xmlns:os="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">;
<os:ShortName>Startpage</os:ShortName>
<os:Description>startpage.com search (no specific mirror)</os:Description>
<os:InputEncoding>UTF-8</os:InputEncoding>
<os:Image width="16" height="16">data:image/x-icon;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAMAAAAoLQ9TAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAihQTFRFtw8P
sRkfshofsxoftBsfrCQuoio9oy
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</os:Image>
<SearchForm>https://startpage.com</SearchForm>;
<os:Url type="text/html" method="POST" template="https://startpage.com/do/search">;
  <os:Param name="cat" value="web"/>
  <os:Param name="query" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</os:Url><os:Url type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" method="GET" template="http://mycroftproject.com/updateos.php/id0/startpage.xml" rel="self">
</os:Url>
</SearchPlugin>

It looks like "cat" and "query" are there but nothing else.

[4wd]

If they are so good at protecting privacy, why do they need to track which browser I'm using in their URL?

https://startpage.com/do/search?query=%s&cat=web&pl=chrome&language=english

Who says they're tracking you?

They may include that so they can serve the page so it displays in every browser the same or they just want to know what the browser ratio is to their site.

Data Collection

We don't collect any personal information on our visitors. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

When you use Startpage, we do not record your IP address, we do not record which browser you are using (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome etc.), we do not record your computer platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.), and we do not record your search words or phrases. In fact, the only information we do record is an aggregate total of how many searches are performed on our website each day (a measure of overall traffic), and those overall traffic numbers broken down by language, and statistics on a purely aggregate level.

If it's such a concern, change it to pl=ff for Firefox, or just delete it.

How did you end up with that?

By using the Custom plugin or Generate URL under Settings on StartPage.

BTW, yesterday it had Custom plugin there, now I've only got Generate URL ... ?

[ewemoa]

By using the Custom plugin or Generate URL under Settings on StartPage.

Thanks

[TaoPhoenix]

I've used Startpage for years because they at least attempt some privacy protections.

But I do have to say the results list is in fact only second best. Occasionally I have had to go over to Bad Ol' Google for some high grade results!

So that's a little surprising because if it was just a pass through of Google the lists would match. But they're using some kind of blended subset.