Google has been the biggest name in search for decades, but it has competition. Microsoft's Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others have a small but solid user base, and after a lot of divisive recent changes at Big G, more folks may be looking elsewhere. If you're among them - or if you'd just like to take an alternative search engine for a spin and report back - we'd love to hear about your experiences.
How do you find that Bing, DuckDuckGo, or any other non-Google search engine performed? Did it give you better results or offer some other feature you liked? Tell us in writing or video, and feel free to illustrate your answer with comparison screenshots of the search results.
I decided to try Ecosia, a search engine that plants trees with the revenue from searches. The first thing that caught my attention was its simple and clean interface, without too many intrusive ads. The search speed is good, and the results are generally relevant, though sometimes not as detailed or precise as Google’s, especially for more specific or recent queries.
The real strength of Ecosia is its environmental commitment. Every search helps plant trees in various parts of the world, and the real-time counter motivated me to use it more. While there are sponsored ads, they are less invasive than Google’s.
However, for local or very specific searches, Ecosia’s results aren’t always as accurate as Google’s. Still, if you're looking for a search engine that combines browsing with a positive environmental impact, Ecosia is an interesting choice. I’ll continue using it for its ecological mission, even though Google remains more powerful for advanced searches.
The browser I am currently using is Opera gx A great browser, and much more for video game lovers. For its customization application A very nice and very useful browser, lighter than traditional browsers.
Yes I used OperaGX, a very good browser. Especially because it has an ADblocker included and therefore it is much easier to navigate. I also used bing or microsoft edge but personally I prefer Google Chrome, because currently always in my opinion, it is the best browser around.
I tend to use duckduckgo which is good for privacy, yes the searches are better on google but duckduckgo for privacy is good if you dont want companies logging your searches
Yes, sometimes i've used Ecosia a search browser who help to reforest the world everytime you made a research. Is a good alternative or a co-browser to use sometimes just for making good thing to the world. They document every things do in the world and i feel proud to give my very little contribution to that honorauble purpose.
I use Google search for everything and while I don't believe there is a search engine better than Googles I have on occasion used Bing and Duck Duck Go. Bing doesn't measure up in any way shape or form to Google. It is clunky and for me at least, returns entries that are completely useless. My google/search engine fu is strong so it isn't me. Duck Duck Go is a great search engine and if Google shut down tomorrow I would switch to using Duck Duck Go full time. I like using all 3 search engines for comparative search results if what I am looking for is hard to find results for with just one. Lets be honest the search results displayed are the result of SEO keywords on sites so most of the time a lot of the results are useless but Google seems to be able to narrow the results down a lot and give me exactly what I asked for and need.
I've always been a total fan of Google for everything, but before I set up Microsoft Edge, my main search engine was Bing. I used it for a while and found that it met the needs of everything I was searching for. But I'm very used to Google, whether it's the way I search or the aesthetics haha, so I always go back to it.
I also found DuckDuckGo very interesting because of what they say about respect for privacy and data protection, but I also think that Google continues to send more effective answers.
My work systems all revolve around Microsoft Edge which I detest-maybe because the only exposure I have with it is doing work and the intranet we have isn't always reliable, which can add to the frustrations!
I personally quite like Firefox. It seemed to die out a bit over the past decade (IMO anyway) but is now very user friendly with a responsive browser and easy to manage tabs.
Chrome is my default browser but I wouldn't be too annoyed if I was told I had to use Firefox only moving forward!
For now, Google has been much more useful to me than DuckDuckGo or Bing for regular searching, being my default for troubleshooting and outdoing Reddit's own search function.
DuckDuckGo has a respectable focus on privacy and a clean, simple list of results, but it doesn't bundle results from forum sites as well as Google imo. Where Google gives me 5 Reddit posts packed together (with a 'More results from' link to boot), DuckDuckGo might give 1 totally different Reddit result with just 1 or 2 packed underneath.
Bing gives pretty good results, but the layout is way less compact and clean, so I still only consider it for image searching and its AI tool.
DuckDuckGo - I tried it out after being recommended that it was a search engine with a focus on respecting my privacy, which these days I think is a plus. I don't know why, but the answers provided by google seemed more precise with what was requested, maybe in the future I'll give it another go.
Yes, because if you search on some topics the first 10 listings are ads. And on the second page of google search it gets dark. Means stuff which I didn't actually look for.
Last time it was Escosia, the one which plants trees. <3
But honestly SEO Marketing shows you stuff which you don't want to see. Which will poison all search engines once people know how to manipulate them.
I used to use Lycos all the time! Anyone remember that? lol proper throwback!
Joking aside main ones I've tried have been bing, which I find to be inconsistent at brining back relevant search results but is a cool way to top up your Xbox Microsoft reward points if you have your xbox account hooked up to it!
Also I tried Duck Duck Go a while back after reading an article about online privacy adn tracking etc, unfortuently though it felt empty with hardly any results for what i was looking for versus google.
I see chat gpt is now moving into this space and will no doubt have a search / integrated browser competitor launching in the near future so it will be interesting to see if anyone can displace google and chrome the way they did to Microsoft and internet explorer!
Google's search engine is wonderful. I already use others like DukeDukeGo, but I still prefer Google because it is very practical and simple to use. I have the impression that the search results from Google's competitors don't always suggest the best suggestions for my searches, a problem that doesn't exist with Google, and it is super intuitive and dynamic.
I also like Bing because of their AI, which is very interesting and helps me a lot with my searches.
I have used search engines other than Google, but in my opinion other search engines are a bit different, and I am not used to using them and several times I have used them there have been slight errors and they have strayed from the discussion I wanted to search for, so I still use Google as my search engine until today.
I think that like most of us we started using Google Chrome but since I discovered Microsoft's Bing it became a gem for me, it recommends things that are more precise to my tastes, even to give me the weather forecast it is much more accurate and after a long time I realized Remember that they gave us points for doing everyday searches! And those points are used to exchange them for certain rewards such as money from a video game, even to donate to some institutions, it works very well for me, I don't think anyone had rewarded us for just doing personal searches! Personally, I prefer bing now, although the other applications are not disregarded either.
Yes. After Google and Bing, which are completely useless (Bing has something good, the AI), I am using perplexity.ai, it is very fast, intuitive and I think that provides useful information. Also, I think that this is the path that Google will take in the future.
As much as I loathe its misuse, ChatGPT is fairly good as far as search goes nowadays. I believe it piggybacks off Bing, but uses its generative powers to cross-reference and draw results. It's best on the paid 4o model since it cites sources. Often, when it doesn't, you'll need to double-check anyway because it has a high probability of being wrong. I'd say I correct it 40% of the time, which isn't ideal, but I still feel it's faster than going the Google route nowadays.
I've also used a fair bit of Bing across 2024 and don't understand the hate. I feel it provides the same results Google used to before it killed everything with copious sponsored elements, zero-click snippet boxes that aren't always relevant or accurate, and HCU updates prioritising big fish and AI-generated sites over smaller indies, etc.
One might wish to venture into a universe beyond Google, but sometimes it feels nearly impossible—and I think habit has a lot to do with it.
As of early 2024, Bing's market share was a mere 3.43% compared to Google’s overwhelming 91.47%, according to Statista.
Personally, I’ve used Bing several times over the years, and it does have the advantage of offering a visually distinct experience.
However, I believe Google holds a significant edge when it comes to the accuracy of its results and its seamless integration within its ecosystem of services.
Original text in Spanish, translated with AI software
Sometimes I use other search engines, especially Bing, but none of them, for me, are as good as Google. They try to be good; some of them have useful features, but Google is better because it is very comprehensive and doesn’t lack any essentials. On the other hand, the other search engines sometimes lack something or aren’t as easy to use as Google.
I've tried Ecosia and Bing! before, and personally, I couldn't warm up to either of them.
Ecosia is an absolute sponsored ad minefield, where pretty much the entire page before you is advertisement riddled until you scroll down. Sure, they have a lovely viewpoint and planting trees from most of their revenue is a good action, but from a user standpoint, it's just not viable.
Bing is probably the closest to Google I've seen that's functional and works well. However, I found the search engine is not as refined as others. It's good in its own sense, but just comparably weaker than competitors.
As a user, I see the advantages of each search engine. *Microsoft Bing offers an appealing interface with beautiful daily background images, along with a rewards feature that adds extra value to the search experience. Yahoo, though powered by Bing, excels at combining search capabilities with its news portal, entertainment content, and useful services like Yahoo Mail. Meanwhile, Google* is my top choice due to its speed, highly relevant search algorithms, and the fact that I frequently use its ecosystem services within the Googlesphere, such as Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, and YouTube, which support my daily needs.
I have used Microsoft bing. The thing i love about it, is getting rewards by just searching. But i mean, it's a search engine, it's the same as google.
As a Big Google User, through the years I also managed to touch some Bing search on Microsoft Edge browser and I can say for now that it can be good some times with specific tasks like using your Microsoft Account for Windows, but no matter the changes made by Google recently and also the upgrades That Microsoft did to Its Search Engine, It can never replace the Google ecosystem, the world Is too dependent on it that any change will make you years behind, what Google has achieved with Its Products linked Like a Spider Web on almost 3/4 of the Internet is concerning.
In the past there, was a period where I tried to replace my Google searches with DuckDuckGo. It's really good but oftentimes simply less accurate than Google.
Finding what I wanted was simply faster with Google so I've gone back to it. Thankfully, there are some options you can tick in your Google account settings to limit how much info about the terms you've searched are stored with Google.
One thing I cannot rely on Google for anymore though is reverse image searches. They've made the UI for it so convoluted and complicated that you can't simply link or upload an image and click "find source" anymore.
So when it comes to that, I often use Bing instead. It's not perfect either but a bit easier to use.
Honestly, I have used Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo for different work-related reasons, but I don't get the results I'm looking for as efficiently as I do with Google Search, although I consider that both Bing and DuckDuckGo have improved enormously as a search engine in recent times.
It is also true that, once you get used to working in a certain way, it is difficult to stop doing it that way; I have got used to using the search for news, images, videos, etc... that the Google bar offers me after entering the term, and although it is a tool that the rest of the search engines already have, I have got used to the way Google presents the contents and I find it the most comfortable.
I already tested Bing by force (thanks Microsoft) and it isn't necessarily bad but you can see until this day still inferior to Google engine
Other that I have tried many others like DuckDuckGo and Yahoo! it is almost impossible to not admit the superiority of Google Seach Engine.
And besides of that I some time use the Chinese Baidu that is where I go to verify some news and almost every time I discover that it is a big and good fake new from Free Asia Radio.
I use Edge as a browser at work and that defaults to Bing so I gave it a go. What annoys me is that it tries to push the Copilot on you more aggressively than Google search does with it's own AI features. I see the AI answer in Google at the top, and most of the time it displays the answer from the website I would actually click on for the information, so even though I think AI assistants are just glorified search engines, at least Google's provides me with a relevant answer. Copilot on the other hand is most of the time useless for me as it doesn't answer the question I have. I'm wondering if Google's AI in the search works better because I use Google for so many things it has more data on my habits?
I think every search engine starts to show more "sponsored" results, and a lot of them will be irrelevant to what you are looking for, but in my experience Google was still the most accurate in results.
I work with a lot of PCs, so I often use Edge and Bing whenever Chrome is not installed. And it's just fine. I really don't notice much of a difference between the results or anything, but at the same time, it just gives me no reason to switch over either, especially as I'm already used to all the various smart Google search features like Lens, or knowing all the various widgets that show up when you search something. They work just fine, and neither Google offer me a reason to switch over to something else, and neither does Bing give me a reason to stick with it. And no, Bing's new AI-features powered by Open AI are not a reason, and I honestly never used them much more than just to test them out.
I have already tested Bing and other search engines other than Google, the results are not the same, I remember a site that did not appear on the Bing search page and this made me a little angry because I know the address of the site and it was not appearing on the search page. Besides that, I also find it difficult to find images, videos, etc. Google is easier and it seems to show more content on its search page. I really do not use Bing or other search pages much for this reason. But I believe it may be because I have already gotten used to Google and I feel that my searches are faster there.
I've had Bing as the default on work computers and I've definitely preferred Google.
Prior to Google's rise to dominance I had used Alta Vista, Ask Jeeves and Dogpile. Google seemed much more useful and 'on point' with searches when I first started using it, so I've never looked back.
Curious about these new and improved search engines though. Would be interested if high quality sources will appear before sponsored content.
Well, I've tried to. But like most people think, Google is indeed the best search engine. It provides you all you need, and we all use it for so long that it's normal to feel lost when using any other one. With some knowledge on how the searching works, you can overpass some of its disadvantages, like the use of "" to search only that specific term or phrase or site:____ so you can search only in that specific site.
Although, DuckDuckGo is my secondary one, specially to find scientific data as articles and books. Google Scholar is also a good choice, but it's a mess and with so many duplicates that I only use it when I don't find what I need on DuckDuckGo
MY EXPERIENCE IN OTHERS SEARCH ENGINES OUT FROM GOOGLE
Like a Person with more that 50 years old I came to use NETSCAPE and LYCO networks and others then later came the famous Yahoo, as a search network and also of course, there was GOOGLE
then I discovered MOZILLA FIREFOX and OPERA both as a search network and as an operating system in part and of course, I have used BRAVE . I have used DUCK DUCK GO I have also used the new Windows search engine BING but until now the most effective has undeniably been GOOGLE
I don't know if it is because of dominance or something like that, because it almost has a monopoly. I hope that one day another social networks will get the position that now have Google but only the future have the answer
MY EXPERIENCE
FIREFOX
What my experience has been, generally it has been very good, as if Firefox, for example, on my laptop at the time, I could experience a faster operating system,
BRAVE
in the case of Brave, it had an operating system that prevented me from seeing unwanted commercials
SAFARI
and using Safari on Apple, well, I have had a navigation system that has worked with fewer ads or fewer banners and in a cleaner way in its own way.
All search engines have had their advantages and disadvantages, but the king undeniably continues to be GOOGLE
Tested but, sadly, none of them have provided satisfactory results.
The worst was Bign—its percentage of unrelated search results was shocking. Yandex was similar, though its image search was the least effective. DuckDuckGo is about 85% similar to Google but with fewer ads and a cleaner layout.
Google, however, increasingly inserts video snippets into text searches, which I’m not a fan of.
Before I switched to PC gaming (and for a year or two after), I used Bing exclusively so I could use rewards to fund my Xbox Live or Gamepass subscription. It was...fine. The search results themselves accomplished what I wanted them to 80% of the time, the biggest hangup compared to Google is all the incidental content on the page. The recommendations, summaries, related searches/'people also asked' stuff was pretty universally worse than what comes up on google.
That said, my current search engine of choice is 'udm=14,' a browser addon sets the default search engine for your browser to Google, but turns off all that incidental content and gives you just search results. The extra content only rarely comes in useful for me, and when I do want that I can use my phone.
As corporation i dont admire Google, but after tested Yahoo!, Bing, DuckDuckgo, SwissCows, Brave Search, Baidu and Yandex i reached to the conclusion that Google Search Engine is the best choice that exist in our planet.
I hope to be alive to see Google changing some practices, to reach next level of quality.
Incredibly Brave Search have a good aproach to the quality of Google, but they need to keep working on it.
I tried Microsoft Bing for a while for harvesting Microsoft reward points to get stuff for free on my xbox, but it really wasn't as good as google so i reverted back after a while. Worth it tho if you really want those free points to get gift cards and so on on your xbox for free but i couldn't be bothered after a while. I also did this so i had the knowledge / info for content I was working on.
Search Technology: Bing employs Microsoft's own search algorithms to deliver results. It focuses on providing high-quality, relevant content with an emphasis on features like news, weather, sports scores, and more directly in search results.
Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem: Bing is deeply integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem. It's the default search engine in the Windows operating system, the Edge browser, and other Microsoft applications, enhancing user convenience and visibility.
Bing Chat: One of Bing's standout features is Bing Chat, which uses AI technology to offer a conversational search experience. This allows users to interact with the search engine in a more natural, question-answer format, providing answers, suggestions, and even performing tasks like booking appointments or finding local services.
Rewards Program: Bing has a unique rewards system where users accumulate points for performing searches. These points can be redeemed for gift cards, sweepstakes entries, or donations, incentivizing user engagement with the platform. Being a Xbox user this is paramount to me!
Visual Search: Bing introduced visual search capabilities, allowing users to search the web using images. Users can upload an image or use their camera to find visually similar products, identify objects, or get information about landmarks, enhancing the search experience beyond text.
Market Presence: While Bing doesn't command the same market share as Google worldwide, it holds a significant position in certain markets and among demographics that value Microsoft's ecosystem or are looking for alternatives to Google. Bing has made inroads with its focus on AI, rewards, and unique search functionalities.
Bing's strategy involves not just competing on search quality but also enhancing user interaction through AI, personalization, and integration within Microsoft's broader service offerings, aiming to carve out a niche in the search engine landscape.
