Search engines have changed the way we view the world, allowing us to access gigabytes of information at the touch of a button and giving us unlimited access to many products and services, educational resources and many others. today, you can sign in from almost anywhere in the world and be able to track down a textbook for a school course, purchase goods online, get information on a topic you are researching on, chat with someone on another part of the planet and perform many other tasks that were virtually impossible before the advent of the internet. Unfortunately, with all these advantages come the problem of loss of anonymity, and many people are discovering that search engines are tracking them.

Using cookies, your IP address, referrer information, data mining and other methods, search engines like Google and others are able to obtain information about you including your browsing habits, location, your contacts and other important personal information. Fortunately, the rise of search engines like duck duck go is ensuring that users’ information is protected, and that they can browse safely without fear of tracking.

Duck Duck Go is the brainchild of former ‘Names Database’ owner Gabriel Weinberg. Launched in 2008, the search engine was created to offer an alternative to larger search engines. While Duck Duck Go had a slow rise in the initial years, Edward Snowden’s revelation about ‘big brother’ spying led to an increase in the number of the search engine’s users and today, over 10 million people use it as their preferred search engine. There are several reasons for Duck Duck Go’s popularity:

1. Privacy: Apart from Google & Other Search Engines, Duck Duck Go does not gather and save personal information about you. In addition, the search engine does not store your search history in order to tailor results or use cookies unless you change your settings.
2. Advanced features: Duck Duck Go offers advanced features to improve user experience e.g. some features allow you to search directly on selected sites so that you can find what you are looking for quickly.
3. Same results across the board: since the search engine does not use your browsing history to tailor search results, you can be sure that you will get the same results as everyone else who is searching for information on a certain topic.

Duck Duck Go’s popularity is poised to skyrocket especially with people who value their privacy and are not comfortable with search engines holding so much personal information about them. If browsing anonymously is important to you, you should definitely consider using Duck Duck Go.