====== DuckDuckGo ======
{{media:image:logo:duckduckgo.png }}
**DuckDuckGo** (DDG) has become my favourite [[search_engine|search engine]]. The primary reason I switched was because it isn't a Google nor other big tech jerk thing, and that it doesn't do any tracking or data hoarding. But of course as time moved on it's started doing tracking and showing ads., so I'm looking for alternatives again

There are pleanty of other neat things too: The search results are good, you can easily use it to search Open Street Map, the [[#Bang|bang searches]] and other handy shortcuts like easy currency conversion, maths, etc.

===== Search Syntax =====

^ ''s:[domain] [terms]'' | Search within particular website. You can get fancy with this and use it to search multiple domains, search a TLD, //exclude// a domain...  |
^ ''f:[file extension] [terms]'' | Search for particular files |

==== Bangs ====

One of the features I use the most in DDG are the //bangs//. These are shortcuts you can use to search //a lot// of different websites (see: [[https://duckduckgo.com/bang|duckduckgo.com/bang]]).

To use you just type an exclamation mark followed by the abbreviation, then a space, then your search term.

Here're the ones I use most often:

^ ''!arch''    | [[Arch Linux]] Wiki |
^ ''!aur''     | The Arch User Repository package database |
^ ''!discogs'' | [[Discogs]] |
^ ''!ia''      | [[Internet Archive]] |
^ ''!itad''    | IsThereAnyDeal (videogame sale history) |
^ ''!lb''      | [[Letterboxd]] |
^ ''!man''     | Linux manuals (AKA: //man pages//) |
^ ''!mh''      | //[[monster_hunter_series|Monster Hunter]]// Wiki |
^ ''!moby''    | [[Mobygames]] |
^ ''!sice''    | staticICE (Australian PC parts price comparison) |
^ ''!trove''   | [[Trove]] (Australian libraries search) |
^ ''!w''       | [[Wikipedia]] |
^ ''!wayback'' | Wayback Machine |
^ ''!wfw''     | //[[warframe]]// Wiki |
^ ''!yt''      | [[Youtube]] |

nbjp With a little setup work, you can get similar functionality by using [[firefox#Keywords|keywords in Firefox]].\\
nbjp There are now [[Firefox]] addons that have the same functionality without phoning home to DDG: [[ffaddon>bang|!bang]], [[ffaddon>bang-open-source|Bang]], [[ffaddon>tt7753bang|Duckduck Bang!]].

===== Negatives =====

DDG promotes itself as privacy friendly, but it still uses tracking in the form of collecting data at ''improving.duckduckgo.com''. The search results are just Bing, and the default map isn't [[open street map]]. And it's browser has a deal with [[Microsft]] so it includes their trackers.

  * https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/duckduckgo.html
  * https://help.duckduckgo.com/privacy/atb/
  * https://old.reddit.com/r/duckduckgo/comments/i8fg3y/why_is_duckduckgo_sending_data_to/
  * https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/duckduckgo-browser-allows-microsoft-trackers-due-to-search-agreement/

===== See Also =====

  * [[http://frogfind.com/|FrogFind]] - DDG wrapper so it'll work nice on old computers.

{{tag>external-edit-only search-engine website}}