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[DuckDuckGo] For Everyone Tired of Google: DuckDuckGo and Bang Searches
In a nutshell
- I was hounded by real-estate ads.
- DuckDuckGo is comfortable to use. It brings up overseas tech articles, too.
- Bang searches are shocking—you can use DuckDuckGo as the search bar for almost any site.
Ad Tracking Is Scary
For a while my feeds were flooded with real-estate ads.
It started when I signed up to test an apartment listing site. Instantly every ad slot in every app switched from hair removal to property ads.
Targeted ads were supposed to be user-friendly, but now they’re monsters that chase you everywhere.
Let me introduce my monsters: hair removal, anti-baldness cures, investment brokerages, Bitcoin, cars, real estate, and those fast-talking “how to be popular” manga ads.
DuckDuckGo Is Great
Exhausted users end up at DuckDuckGo. It’s gaining traction in Japan as an alternative to Google.
DuckDuckGo bills itself as “the search engine that doesn’t track you.” Unlike the big engines, it doesn’t collect personal data such as your search or browsing history. Rankings focus on inbound links to stay fair.
Most major browsers on desktop and mobile let you set it as the default engine. Compared with Google it returns more overseas results, so Japanese users might find it a bit inconvenient at first.
But DuckDuckGo really shines when engineers search for English-language content. No more tripping over clickbait bootcamp articles or half-baked syntax write-ups—you can surf in peace. And if you want peak convenience, try Bang search, which hijacks every service’s search bar.
Engineers, Bang Out Your Searches
Bang search lets you turn the DuckDuckGo search bar into the search bar of countless other sites.
Here are some favorites for engineers:
!gh for GitHub. Repository search is !ghrepo. Code search is !ghcode. Trending is !ght.
!ov for Stack Overflow.
!cpen for CodePen.
You can even hit language specs. Go experiment.
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Side Note
I released a strength-training app called BADDY.
Watch demonstrations of tricky exercises and gym equipment on your phone, and try your first workout. Download workout menus and let the app keep you company.
I recently added more home-training routines.
Details here: https://baddyworkout.com/blog/2017-01-04-start/