like many others, I used to be a person that thought google was the only good search engine, and if you were using something else you probably downloaded a virus. Although as I got more into Programming, Privacy, Security, and technology in general I realized more and more the other options may be better for me.
The main reason I stopped using google was because of its absolute disregard for privacy. I started using DuckDuckGo about a year ago and although it doesn’t have the best search results it offers a lot of features that are useful for me. DuckDuckGo is not only privacy-respecting but also supports other open-source projects with the money they make from their search engine.
Even in the privacy community, many people dislike DuckDuckGo for the inaccuracy of its search results so I will recommend a second search engine called https://searx.bar/. Searx is open-source and gets the results anonymously from google. It also can be run by anyone which would allow you to run your own version at home if you don’t trust a public version.
I personally think privacy is important and everyone should ensure that companies arent stealing their data but some people simply don’t care so for the people who do care Searx and DuckDuckGo are two good options.