In today’s digital landscape, search engines serve as our primary gateway to information. Yet the most popular options—Google, Bing, and Yahoo—operate on a business model fundamentally at odds with user privacy. Let’s explore privacy-respecting alternatives and understand why mainstream search engines might not align with your privacy values.
Privacy Policies: A Revealing Comparison
Let’s examine how mainstream search engines handle your data compared to privacy-focused alternatives:
Mainstream Search Engines
Google Google tracks users’ every move online across their products (Search, Gmail, YouTube, etc.), collecting massive amounts of personal data including search history, location data, and device information to target users with ads. This surveillance-based business model is central to their revenue stream.
Bing Microsoft Bing collects your search terms, IP address, unique identifiers, time and date, browser configuration, and approximate location when you use their service. While they claim to have separate storage for search terms and account-identifying information, they still place cookies on your device and collect significant user data.
Yahoo Yahoo is the oldest major search engine on our list and currently the fourth-largest with about 3.39% global market share. Yahoo’s search is actually powered by Microsoft’s Bing, so the results are similar, though their privacy practices may differ. Yahoo has also experienced major security breaches in the past, including incidents where hackers stole personal credentials from hundreds of millions of users.
The Perverse Incentive of Mainstream Search
The fundamental problem with these major search engines is their business model. Popular search sites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing officially track users’ online activities, keeping logs of searches, browser cookies, IPs, location, and device information for advertising agencies, thereby increasing the risk of privacy breaches.
This creates what we call a “perverse incentive” – these companies aren’t motivated to quickly connect you with the best information and send you on your way. Instead, they profit most when you continue searching and clicking, viewing more ads along the way. That’s why they’re designed to be “just good enough” rather than optimal for your privacy and efficiency.
Privacy-Respecting Alternatives
Kagi
Kagi represents a fundamental shift in the search engine ecosystem by embracing a subscription model rather than relying on advertising revenue. This approach completely transforms the relationship between the search provider and user—when you pay directly for the service, the company’s incentive becomes providing superior results rather than harvesting your data.
Kagi offers three pricing tiers: $5/month for 300 searches, $10/month for unlimited searches, and $25/month for unlimited searches plus early access to features. While this may seem unusual in an internet landscape where most services appear “free,” the subscription model means Kagi can focus entirely on search quality and user experience.
The service combines results from its own proprietary index with other search sources to deliver comprehensive, unbiased results. A standout feature is Kagi’s “lenses” system, which allows users to filter results by category and even create custom lenses. For example, you can filter results to focus on discussions, podcasts, or content from smaller websites like blogs and forums.
Unlike mainstream search engines, Kagi explicitly states in its privacy policy that it doesn’t store your search history or personal information on its servers, nor does it sell or share your data with third parties. For users who value both privacy and high-quality search results, Kagi offers perhaps the most balanced solution on the market today.
Startpage
Startpage offers a clever solution for those who appreciate Google’s search algorithm but reject its privacy practices. It functions as an intermediary between you and Google, stripping away identifying information before forwarding your query, then returning Google’s results to you privately.
When you search on Startpage, your query is anonymized before being sent to Google, and the results are delivered back to you without the tracking mechanisms normally attached. Startpage also offers an “Anonymous View” feature that allows you to visit websites through their proxy, preventing those sites from gathering your personal data or tracking your behavior.
Startpage’s business model relies on showing non-personalized ads based solely on your current search terms, not on a profile built from your browsing history. Based in the Netherlands, Startpage adheres to strict European privacy regulations, providing an additional layer of protection for users concerned about data collection practices.
For users who want Google-quality results without Google-style tracking, Startpage offers an excellent compromise that doesn’t require adjusting to a new search algorithm or result style.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo has become perhaps the most recognizable name in privacy-focused search. Founded in 2008, it has steadily grown its user base while maintaining its core promise: they don’t track you, period.
Unlike Google or Bing, DuckDuckGo doesn’t create a personal profile of your searches or browsing activities. Each search you perform is treated as if it’s coming from a new user, meaning your search for health information won’t influence the ads you see later, nor will it be tied to your previous searches for travel destinations or financial advice.
DuckDuckGo pulls results from over 400 sources, including Bing, Yahoo, and its own web crawler, but it doesn’t share any personal information with these providers. The company generates revenue through keyword-based advertising (showing ads based only on your current search term) and affiliate partnerships when users make purchases through certain search results.
Beyond basic search, DuckDuckGo offers privacy-focused browser extensions and mobile apps that block trackers across the web, force secure connections when available, and provide privacy grades for websites you visit. Their “bang” syntax (!w for Wikipedia, !a for Amazon, etc.) allows for quick, targeted searches on specific sites.
For users seeking a straightforward alternative to Google with minimal privacy compromises, DuckDuckGo offers perhaps the most mature and well-rounded solution.
Brave Search
From the team behind the popular Brave Browser, Brave Search launched in 2021 with a focus on independence and privacy. Unlike many alternative search engines that rely on Google or Bing’s index, Brave Search has developed its own independent index to deliver results without dependence on the tech giants.
This independence is a significant technical achievement that few other privacy-focused search engines have managed. By 2023, Brave Search achieved full independence from other search engines, operating solely on its own index—a move that emphasizes both user privacy and result transparency.
Brave Search doesn’t track users or their search queries, and it offers both free (ad-supported) and premium (ad-free) options. The ad-supported version shows contextual ads based on search terms rather than user profiling. The paid version, Brave Search Premium, removes ads entirely for $3/month.
Brave also offers AI-powered features like Summarizer, which provides concise explanations for search queries using large language models, all while maintaining the company’s privacy commitments by processing these requests without storing user data.
For users who value both privacy and the growing ecosystem of Brave products (including their browser), Brave Search provides a compelling option that’s rapidly improving its results and features.
Mullvad Leta
Leta is a relatively new and unique entry in the privacy search space. Developed by respected VPN provider Mullvad, Leta takes a novel approach to private searching by functioning as a proxy between users and the Google Search API.
Available exclusively to Mullvad VPN subscribers, Leta caches search results for 30 days. When a user searches for something, Leta first checks if anyone has made the same search recently—if so, it delivers the cached results without contacting Google at all. If not, it forwards the request to the Google Search API while preserving the user’s anonymity.
This caching system serves multiple purposes: it reduces costs, enhances privacy by sharing results among all users, and minimizes direct interaction with Google. Users are limited to 100 direct (non-cached) searches per day, but there’s no limit on cached searches.
Leta has been independently audited for security and privacy protection, and its search results are delivered free from the third-party tracking links typically found in Google results. When you click a result in Leta, you go directly to the website rather than through Google’s tracking redirects.
For those who already use Mullvad VPN (or are considering it), Leta provides an additional privacy tool that delivers Google-quality results with significantly reduced tracking exposure.
Making the Switch
Transitioning away from mainstream search engines is one of the simplest yet most effective steps you can take to enhance your online privacy. Whether you choose a free option like DuckDuckGo or Brave Search, or a premium service like Kagi or Mullvad Leta, you’ll immediately reduce the amount of personal data being collected and sold by tech giants.
At Unshakled, we believe that privacy-respecting search engines represent an important alternative to the surveillance-based models that dominate the internet today. By supporting these services, you’re not just protecting your own privacy—you’re helping to create a more ethical digital ecosystem for everyone.
Your search habits reveal your most intimate thoughts and questions. It’s time to ensure that this window into your mind remains private, as it should be.
Take Action Today
Ready to make the switch? Here are three simple steps you can take right now to enhance your search privacy:
- Try a privacy-respecting search engine – Start with DuckDuckGo or Brave Search if you want a free option, or consider Kagi’s free trial if you’re willing to explore paid alternatives.
- Change your default search engine – Update the settings in your browser to use your chosen privacy search engine by default, ensuring you don’t accidentally revert to Google out of habit.
- Install privacy extensions – Many of these search providers offer browser extensions that enhance privacy beyond search, blocking trackers and preventing fingerprinting across the web.
Remember that privacy is a journey, not a destination. You don’t have to make every change at once—even small steps toward more private searching will significantly reduce your digital footprint over time.
At Unshakled, we believe that everyone deserves the knowledge and tools to make informed choices about their digital lives. Privacy isn’t all-or-nothing – every small step you take to protect your information helps create a more balanced digital ecosystem.
Unshakled is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting internet freedom, protecting privacy, educating the public on digital privacy, and ensuring secure access to information. Learn more about our mission and how you can support our work at unshakled.org.
