What is DuckDuckGo and how does it work

Maybe not everyone knows it, but many websites do they keep track of our daily visits, selling (or using on their own) this data to marketing agencies, who can thus build ad hoc advertising campaigns. This is why it sometimes happens that we see online advertisements that seem tailored to our desires or need of the moment.

It is the phenomenon of tracking advertising which, as the name suggests, keeps track of users’ web behaviour outlines a profile and then sells it to the highest bidder. Google AdWords, for example, are built through this mechanism.

Many bypass it with the Incognito browsing of the browser, others by connecting to the Internet via a virtual private network or VPNand still others opting for browsers and search engines that guaranteehigh levels of privacy.

DuckDuckGo is one of them and stands as a direct competitor of Google Searchoffering a mobile app and extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and others, as well as a browser per Windows e Mac in a public beta version.

The history of DuckDuckGo

In February 2008 DuckDuckGo (name that refers to the popular game of goose) was born on the initiative of Gabriel Weinbergentrepreneur who became rich and famous thanks to The Names Databasea social network that enjoyed moderate success overseas and which Weinberg then sold for 10 million dollars.

Part of this amount is reinvested partly in the creation of DuckDuckGo, a search engine that puts user privacy comes first. The intention is to offer an innovative product to all those people who want to protect their personal data online.

Just as the verb “google” has become part of common language, the term “duckare” lends itself, according to the founder, to becoming a new addition to the vocabulary of the digital age

Today DuckDuckGo records several million searches performed each month and as a mobile app it has surpassed the milestone of 10 million downloads, only within the Play Store. The Snowden scandal and other news of theft of data and personal information online have had a very positive influence on the site’s traffic, so much so that it is considered one of the best alternatives to Google.

As the years passed, the DuckDuckGo development team began to expand its reach. Although the search engine remains the company’s core business, Winberg has tried to “export” the DuckDuckGo model to other areas as well. Since the beginning of 2018, for example, the smartphone application e the extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari has seen an increase in the number of features offered to users.

How DuckDuckGo works: the features

DuckDuckGo is made in Perl and runs on nginx, FreeBSD and Linux. Technically speaking, it is not a search engine as such: Weinberg’s creation leverage search APIs from different sources e collects the results on a single pageso as to offer the user the widest possible results.

Among the various sources used by the site we find Wolfram Alpha, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Bing, Yandex and other. The most relevant results are then “summarized” and highlighted at the top of the SERP, so that the user can have a general idea of ​​the type of search he has carried out.

To offer the best possible results, DuckDuckGo applies a particular filter to each search excludes results attributable to content mills, or content factories. These are websites that produce thousands and thousands of posts every day with the sole aim of climbing the Google ranking and positioning themselves among the first search results. In this way they are able to increase their traffic volume and increase advertising revenue.

What distinguishes DuckDuckGo from Google Search

DuckDuckGo takes a completely different approach than Google which has traditionally generated revenue adapting advertisements to the timeline navigation and users’ personal information.

Although Big G has stated its intention to stop this practice, the platform still collects a significant amount of data, including location and search history, even when browsing incognito.

Incognito mode deletes the information associated with the session navigation from the device, such as history, cookies and all data entered into forms. However, it only performs data wiping once all tabs are closed.

As a result, if left open for extended periods, this data can accumulate. Furthermore, Google will still have access to searches and will be able to retain records, which also applies to other entities such as companies, Internet service providers and government organizations.

While incognito browsing prevents your browser history from being stored on your local device, it does not protect you from websites that track your searches or collect information to send intrusive ads

DuckDuckGo stands out because does not store navigation data and actively blocks trackers during online sessions. While sites can detect that we have visited them, they do not know what specific searches we have made and cannot access personal information to identify us or personalize services and ads.

Also, DuckDuckGo has one encrypted version which automatically changes links to sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, and Amazon to point to HTTPS versions. Like classic search engines, DuckDuckGo delivers services such as maps, weather forecasts, news, images, videos, flight information etc.

DuckDuckGo, functionality to protect privacy

DuckDuckGo is a search engine (albeit hybrid) that cares about user privacy. For this reason it does not keep track of the Internet user’s IPmuch less of your search history carried out, born alcun log o cookie that can somehow lead back to the behaviors and browsing profiles of its users.

To further improve the level of protection of users’ personal data, DuckDuckGo introduced the use of TOR, software that guarantees complete online anonymity. By taking advantage of TOR’s “onion” protocols, the search engine allows you to carry out searches completely anonymously, causing the Internet user to lose track of themselves in a convoluted path that bounces from server to server. A function much appreciated by users and which aligns with the company’s personal data processing policy.

Tens of millions of people trust DuckDuckGo to protect their daily online activities, from browsing to emailing and beyond

DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free email forwarding service that blocks hidden trackers in emails, allowing you to instantly generate an unlimited number of unique private email addresses. It works in the background, enhancing the privacy of your existing email account and inbox, without having to change contact information or manage multiple accounts.

Extra shielding is offered byApp Tracking Protection, feature designed to thwart third-party trackers within Android apps, even during periods of inactivity. If enabled, it scans your device to promptly detect tracking attempts and return a list of all inhibited trackers.

to know more: All about Browsers