This guide aims to be the most in-depth resource available on private search engines. For this 2023 update, we examine the best private search engines, search results censorship, and how to keep your data safe and secure when searching online.
In today’s world, search engines are a necessity to find what you’re looking for online. Unfortunately, however, there are two big problems you will likely encounter:
Here is the information being collected by some of the larger (not private) search engines:
Unfortunately, the censorship problem affects many of the private search engines for these two reasons:
So let’s examine some alternative private search engines you can start using today.
Metasearch vs search: Most private search engines are technically metasearch engines. While a search engine crawls the internet and gathers its own results, a metasearch engine pulls its search results from other search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yandex.
There are also a few search engines that fall in the middle by deploying their own crawler, but also pulling results from other search engines.
Note: This list is not necessarily in rank order. Choose the best search engine for you based on your own unique needs and threat model.
1) SearX
2) Brave Search
3) metaGer
4) mojeek
5) Swisscows
6) Qwant
7) DuckDuckGo
8) YaCy
9) Ecosia
10) Yandex
Read below
restoreprivacy.com
In today’s world, search engines are a necessity to find what you’re looking for online. Unfortunately, however, there are two big problems you will likely encounter:
- Search engines that violate your privacy.
- Search engines that censor search results.
The search engine privacy problem
It is sad to say, but most of the big search engines today serve as data collection tools for advertising companies. That’s right, they collect your private data and use it to make money with targeted ads. This is a booming industry where your data ends up in the hands of third parties and you are the product.Here is the information being collected by some of the larger (not private) search engines:
- Source IP address
- User agent
- Location
- Unique identifier (stored in browser cookies)
- Search queries
Search engine censorship in 2023
Many people are getting fed up with online censorship, particularly when trying to find specific information that was previously available. Censorship can take many forms. With search engines today, censorship can come from filtering, manipulating, and/or blocking certain search results from appearing.Unfortunately, the censorship problem affects many of the private search engines for these two reasons:
- Censorship flows downhill. Many of the alternative and private search engines are nothing more than private proxies that deliver the same search results from the big players. This means that when Google and Bing (Microsoft) engage in censorship and search result manipulation, so will your alternative search engine that delivers those same results.
- Alternative search engines themselves are also engaging in censorship. Recently the CEO of DuckDuckGo announced that they will “down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.” We can see both sides to the question of whether or not to engage in censorship given today’s geopolitical events. Nonetheless, this amounts to censorship, which is what many people are trying to avoid.
So let’s examine some alternative private search engines you can start using today.
The best private search engines
Finding the best private search engine for your needs is a subjective process. Your circumstances and goals are unique, meaning there’s no one-size-fits-all. Things to consider include:- Where is the service based?
- Where does it get its search results?
- Can you run your own instance?
Metasearch vs search: Most private search engines are technically metasearch engines. While a search engine crawls the internet and gathers its own results, a metasearch engine pulls its search results from other search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yandex.
There are also a few search engines that fall in the middle by deploying their own crawler, but also pulling results from other search engines.
Note: This list is not necessarily in rank order. Choose the best search engine for you based on your own unique needs and threat model.
1) SearX
2) Brave Search
3) metaGer
4) mojeek
5) Swisscows
6) Qwant
7) DuckDuckGo
8) YaCy
9) Ecosia
10) Yandex
Read below
10 Best Private Search Engines 2025 (Search Anonymously)
Using a private search engine is critical if you want to keep your private data secure. Here are the best private search engines.
restoreprivacy.com
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