Episode: 3438
Title: HPR3438: Ten privacy friendly Google search alternatives.
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr3438/hpr3438.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-24 23:24:29

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This is Hacker Public Radio Episode 3438 for Wednesday,
the 6th of October 2021.
Today's show is entitled,
Ten Privacy Friendly Google Search Alternatives,
and is part of the series' privacy and security it is the first show
by Newhost Haker Defoe, and is about nine minutes long
and carries a clean flag.
The summary is Google Search,
is monopolistic here or some alternatives.
This episode of HPR is brought to you by An Honesthost.com.
Get 15% discount on all shared hosting with the offer code
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This show has been submitted by Hacker Defoe,
and has been narrated by Ken Fallon.
Google Monopoly,
in internet search market,
is unprecedented and frightening.
This Monopoly gives Google an absolute power
that is used without any constraints,
and it collects users' data without explicit permission
and tracks users' activity across various websites.
And then Google monetizes that data via advertisements.
Google Search is evil in short, and you shouldn't use it.
Yeah, I hear you say.
Then what on earth do we do if we don't use Google Search?
How do we perform our day-to-day online activities without Google Search?
How do we use freaking internet without it?
Worry not, there are plenty of open source and privacy-friendly options out there
that we can use in place of Google and its evil search engine.
Today, I'm going to go through not one, not two, but ten such options.
The first search engine on the link is Sirix, S-E-A-R-X.
What is Sirix?
Sirix is a free and open source metadata search engine that aggregates results
from more than 70 search services, users and neither tracked nor profiled.
Additionally, Sirix can be used over tour for added anonymity.
Sirix can be self-hosted.
Yes, you can run your very own search engine if you wish.
Now, going through the Sirix installation process is way beyond the scope of this particular
podcast, so I won't go over it, but I'll post the links to various Sirix installation methods
in the show notes. You can use Sirix without
self-hauled listing or installing it.
There are many public Sirix instances available that you can use.
There is a dedicated web page that lists all available public instances of Sirix,
along with useful statistics related to those instances.
You can start using Sirix by choosing any of these public instances.
I leave a link to that page in the show notes.
Second on the list is another open search metadata search engine.
It's called Google Search, WH-O-O-G-L-E search.
What is Google? Well, it allows you to get Google search results
but without any ads, JavaScript, AMP links, cookies or IP address tracking.
Easily display deployable in one link as a Docker app and
customizable with a single config file. Quick and simple to implement as a primary search
engine replacement on both desktop and mobile. As mentioned earlier, covering the installation
process is beyond the scope of this podcast, but I leave the links to the installed document
in the show notes. Just like Sirix, there are public instances of who Google available for you
if you don't want to host or install it on your own. You will find the links to those instances
in the show notes. Number three on our list is MetaCare, M-E-T-A-G-E-R. MetaCare is open source
MetaSearch engine focused on protecting users privacy based in Germany and hosted as a cooperation
between the German NGO Summa-A-A association for free access to knowledge and the University
of Hanover. MetaCare's server run on 100% new renewable energy. According to MetaCare,
even their coffee machine runs on renewable energy. An add-on for Firefox and an Android app
is also available. All the links to these and the MetaCare's privacy policy is in the show notes.
Fourth on the list is a search engine called Gigablast. Founded in 2000 by Matt Wells,
boobs strapped with the help of $30,000, Matt developed almost all the code himself. Gigablast
used wind power as primary power source. Link to the privacy policy is in the show notes as usual.
Search engine number five is private.sh. It is the brainchild of Matt Wells. Yeah, the same guy
behind Gigablast. Private.sh uses cryptography to protect users privacy. Every search query from
private.sh's website and extension is encrypted locally on the client and proxy to their service.
Stripping away users' public IP address, ensuring that only the search provider is able to
decrypt and see the query without any knowledge of who the user is. The results are then returned
to the users through the proxy of pirate.sh and are rendered locally on the user's machine using
only JavaScript running on the machine. Extensions for Firefox and Chrome browsers are available.
Links to them are also in the show notes. Six search provider on the list is Unique. It is called
ECOSIA. Echo, Charlie, Oscar, Syria, India, Alpha. According to the mission statement,
forest need protecting and so does your privacy. EqualCIA uses the profit generation from ads
to plant trees in about 20 countries across the globe. Browser extension for Firefox and Chrome
and apps for Android and iOS devices are available. Links to all these and privacy policies is in
the show notes. Search engine number seven was founded in the Netherlands in 2006. It's called
Start Page. Start page itself calls itself the world's most private search engine. Start page
doesn't have its own indexing engine. It uses Google's search results. Firefox and Chrome
extensions are available. Do I have to say it again that the links to the Start Page's privacy
policy is in the show notes? Number eight on our list is Quanta, Q-W-A-N-T. Quibek, Whiskey, Alpha,
November, Tango. Quanta is a French search engine launched in July 2013. It has its own
indexing engine. It claims that it does not employ user tracking or personalize search results.
The search engine is available in 26 languages. Browser extensions are available for Firefox,
Chrome, Vivaldi, Opera, Edge, Internet Explorer and Safari. Android and iOS apps are also available.
One very interesting offer from Quanta is called Quanta Junior. Quanta Junior is a search engine
designed for the learning of six to 12-year-olds. It allows young kids to explore the internet
in a secure, fun and ad-free environment. Sounds a bit boring and repetitive, but everything is in
the show notes. Penultimate search on our list comes from the house of the well-known browser.
Item number nine is Brave Search. It's still in beta phase, but it's open for everybody
and it is quite usable. Brave brings its own search index, but it is not production ready yet,
and they at this point in time rely on third-party search results,
privacy policy as usual in the show notes. Last but not least is the grandadio and
bananas and private friendly search engines, Duck Duck Go. Ever since its inception in 2008,
it has become synonymous with the word privacy. Duck Duck Go was founded by Gabrielle Vienberg
and is currently operating out of a small sleepy town of Palo, Pennsylvania.
Duck Duck Go's results are a compilation of 400-plus sources, including Yahoo. Search Boss,
Wolfram Alpha, Bing, Yandex, Wikipedia, and its own web crawlers and others. Extensions are
available for almost every major browser. Apps for Android, iOS devices are available too.
Duck Duck Go is named after the traditional children's game, Duck Duck Goose. Next time,
someone asks you to look something up on the internet. Don't say Google it, say Duck Duck Go it,
and that was the end of the show. Just a quick note from your narrator here. Back in episode
773, I interviewed Gabrielle here on Hacker Public Radio. If you want to go back and listen to that,
the link will also be in the show notes.
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