I've been using Qwant (https://about.qwant.com) as my default search engine.
I like it's "freshness" and a certain feel that search results are not being so biased as with google.
As to "respect your privacy" I don't know but I think that maybe an European and very specially French search engine will be less invasive than an American and more respectful of fundamental liberties.
Can Qwant refer to other search engines? This is the feature I like about DDG, where they are called !Bang searches. For example:
!g for Google
!w for Wikipedia
!m for Google Maps
!yt for Youtube
!imdb for IMDB
etc.
This way you can set up a single search engine in the browser and use the rest by !Bang.
It's also a one of the reasons I've been using DDG. I may not necessarily have chosen exactly the same shortcuts, but put the default search in a random foreign browser to DDG and you're up and rolling.
But yeah, Qwant does that too.
Can Qwant refer to other search engines?
Yes, it has a feature they call Qwick search:
Qwick allows you to get a direct research to many specific websites. By adding the symbol ‘&’ or ‘!’ followed by the name of your favorite website (e.g. Amazon), you immediately have access to the result.
For Google: &g
For Estonian Wikipedia: &w.ee
etc.
Here's another search engine: searx.me
Each search result is given as a direct link to the respective site, rather than a tracked redirect link as used by Google. In addition, when available, these direct links are accompanied by "cached" and/or "proxied" links that allow viewing results pages without actually visiting the sites in question. The "cached" links point to saved versions of a page on archive.org, while the "proxied" links allow viewing the current live page via a searx-based web proxy. In addition to the general search, the engine also features tabs to search within specific domains: files, images, IT, maps, music, news, science, social media, and videos.
Update: This one is blocked at my work, so it must be good :)
you should try this one Ecosia (https://www.ecosia.org). they say they plant a tree for each search you do. C'mon I want a forest around my house.
you should try this one Ecosia (https://www.ecosia.org). they say they plant a tree for each search you do. C'mon I want a forest around my house.
Fantastic! On that page you can see how many trees we already have.
Trees and coronaviruses seem inversely related on the map. It must mean something.