cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/4448974

I’ve recently started using a self hosted SearXNG instance but I’m still using the search engines enabled by default (google, duckduckgo and qwant). What search engines do you have enabled or which ones do you feel you’ve gotten the best results with?

  • fievel@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    1 year ago

    Recently switched to Duck Duck Go and honestly I find the results better than Google. More accurate, less “sponsored” results, …

    • moody@lemmings.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      DDG doesn’t like to exclude words from your searches though. It lets you exclude sites using the -site: parameter, but won’t exclude individual words. And it constantly gives me search results that don’t include the words that I’m searching for.

      • mineapple@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Have you tried using exclusive terms with quotation marks? Like “how to get rich fast” That should only feature sites with exactly that search term. Additionally you could link words with + between them i think.

        • moody@lemmings.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I have tried, and it really doesn’t work that well. Often I’m looking for a specific word, and if I search the page that DDG gave me, the word doesn’t appear at all. Either it finds words it thinks are close enough, or it just ignores the request.

  • fubo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Google for most things.

    Bing in an incognito window for weird porn.

  • Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago
    • Searx for piracy stuff. (occasional use)
    • Google because kinda used to UI and the direct quick answer without having to look for it in the site
    • duckduckgo is the default on Firefox and it’s about as good as Google when i use it.
    • Yandex is weirdly the best one for image search.(occasional use)
    • Bing via the AI because it acts as the best teacher I’ve ever had. Patient, understanding and adapting to my level ( use a lot recently )
  • renlok@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’ve been using kagi for the last few months, I like it but due to the pricing it’s changes how I use search.

    • peregus@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’ve used it for about a month, but the number of searches I do is over the $10/month plan, so I should switch to the next that is $25/month, definitely too much! I’ll keep using Google within it’s own container in Firefox so that it can’t track anything and without any ads thanks to PiHole (or is it uBlock Origin?).

    • kevincox@lemmy.mlM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      I just define my own bangs. Both Firefox and Google let you set up custom search engines easily. For example I just type d bag of holding into my URL bar and it searched my favourite D&D reference site. Faster, private and I can select whatever search engine I want for regular search.

      • throwawayish@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        That’s good to know! And I’m sure it’s beneficial information for those that were unaware of that. However, (unless I’m wrong) the method you described requires you to be deliberate and precise in the placement of your own bang; i.e. bag of d holding or bag of holding d wouldn’t work. As I often just start typing whatever I want to search/look for and only notice midway/afterwards that I hadn’t specified where I would like to search, the built-in ‘bangs’ in Firefox/Chrome just wouldn’t cut it unless I would try to rewire my behavior.

        • kevincox@lemmy.mlM
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I guess that is true. It isn’t an issue for the way my brain works. You could type Home d Space but that is a bit more awkward to type.

    • Fisch@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      I heard that Google has been getting quite a bit worse over the years, so I hoped that someone may know a search engine that’s better

    • Fisch@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Since I’m using SearXNG, I would only make them lose money and I’d rather not since they actually put that money to good use

      • PropaGandalf@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        With SearXNG you get all of the search engines in one. With some configuration it gives me the best results I ever had. Not too niche not too spammy. Also having direct torrent and fdroid/apk search integration is a blessing!

  • DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    My Searx instance has Google, DuckDuckGo, Startpage, plus Wikidata and Wikipedia. I also have it configured to block all results from all the socials, including Reddit.

    Google probably isn’t necessary given I have Startpage enabled, but FOMO.

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯