I have used SearXNG for a while, but I switched to LibreX after the search engine started glitching. Recently, though, LibreX has stopped returning any results. I am currently on Mojeek, but the results aren’t that great.
I have also tried Qwant, but I wasn’t too keen on it. Startpage will be impractical, as I use a VPN and this engine often blocks me because of it. I don’t want to use Brave Search for a number of reasons. MetaGer has too many important features behind its paywall. I’m not sure about DuckDuckGo, but I could use it if there was no other option.
Any suggestions, or am I being too picky?
- glacier ( @glacier@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 22•10 months ago
I primarily use DuckDuckGo, and occasionally have to use a !bang to get to the Startpage or Google.
- AHEHE ( @Nerdic@unilem.org ) 16•10 months ago
I’ve been enjoying Kagi but it’s not for everyone.
Add a proxy to your browser and you should get through on Startpage.
- quellik ( @quellik@lemmy.ml ) 10•10 months ago
Been a happy Kagi user for 6+ months now. No more Pinterest and other blogspam in my searches
- DuckGuy ( @DuckGuy@lemmy.zip ) 12•10 months ago
If SearXNG worked for you, why not use a more stable instance?
- orizuru ( @orizuru@lemmy.sdf.org ) 11•10 months ago
What issues did you have with SearXNG?
You could try to self host it, or even just run it on your local machine.
Shameless plug on how to set it up locally, and how to set up custom filters (to block junk websites and redirect reddit to the old interface).
It stopped returning results. I tried other instances: same problems. However, I think the issue may have been fixed.
I am currently on an iPhone, and I’m not really in a position to self-host (although I did try to set up a FreedomBox the other day).
- orizuru ( @orizuru@lemmy.sdf.org ) 6•10 months ago
Ah fair enough.
I started by having it on my laptop, and used it only there. Liked it so much that I’m renting a VPS around $5 a month to have it on all my devices.
But to be fair, I’m also hosting other things on that VPS (SearXNG is very light), so it’s multi-purpose.
- guyrocket ( @guyrocket@kbin.social ) 1•10 months ago
Who do you like for VPS hosting?
- FirstCircle ( @FirstCircle@lemmy.ml ) English3•10 months ago
Hetzner.
- chayleaf ( @chayleaf@lemmy.ml ) 3•10 months ago
I recommend Oracle Cloud Always Free - 4 Arm cores, 24GB RAM, 200GB storage. I’ve used it before they sanctioned Russia and it worked fine (but if hardware fails your data will stay but you will be at the bottom of the queue for replacement)
- orizuru ( @orizuru@lemmy.sdf.org ) 1•10 months ago
Went with linode since it was reasonably priced and popular. But might move if something better comes along.
I have all the server setup done with ansible, so it’s super easy to reproduce everything in a new machine.
- beeb ( @beeb@lemm.ee ) 1•10 months ago
I used it for a while but could not find good results for any kind of advanced query. Qwant in comparison is slightly better but still worse than duckduckgo unfortunately. For really niche stuff I still need to revert to Google…
- orizuru ( @orizuru@lemmy.sdf.org ) 3•10 months ago
You can get both qwant, duckduckgo, and Google with SearXNG, unless the instance you used had a config to not have them as an option…
That’s why I just prefer to use my own.
- Siliconic ( @Siliconic@discuss.online ) 5•10 months ago
I use Brave Search, it’s quite good imo
- auth ( @authed@lemmy.ml ) 4•10 months ago
Brave
Its surprisingly good… I rarely need anything else
- confusedwiseman ( @confusedwiseman@beehaw.org ) English4•10 months ago
Qwant and kagi have been a great pair. Brave search was good, but they had some controversy a bit back.
- chief_chef ( @chief_chef@feddit.nl ) English4•10 months ago
I use Startpage, it’s based within the EU and a proxy for Google results!
- Pantherina ( @Pantherina@feddit.de ) 8•10 months ago
Vpn block…
- chief_chef ( @chief_chef@feddit.nl ) English2•10 months ago
What?
- Lumilias ( @Lumilias@pawb.social ) English9•10 months ago
It was mentioned in OP’s post: Startpage tends to block those coming in from VPNs.
- DreadPotato ( @DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz ) 3•10 months ago
Why wpuld they do that? Unless they want to track you…
- Ilandar ( @Ilandar@aussie.zone ) 3•10 months ago
Because VPN IP addresses are commonly associated with malicious activity.
- chief_chef ( @chief_chef@feddit.nl ) English2•10 months ago
You’re right, I’ve totally read over it. Sorry :) Can’t imagine a VPN is blocking it as I use it all the time, with and without a VPN. Maybe it’s your VPN provider?
- Ilandar ( @Ilandar@aussie.zone ) 1•10 months ago
I also use StartPage (always with a VPN) and have <1% of my searches blocked. I’m sure there is some logic as to why the occasional search doesn’t get through, but I haven’t been able to work it out.
- dutchkimble ( @dutchkimble@lemy.lol ) 1•10 months ago
I’m using nord and ive not faced that issue yet
- calm.like.a.bomb ( @clmbmb@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English7•10 months ago
Google results
which these days are very very bad! especially if you search something tech/programming related.
- T (they/she) ( @Templa@beehaw.org ) 3•10 months ago
I tried using SearXNG for a few weeks but I kept needing to chance instances. I’m using DuckDuckGo for now.
- pacoboyd ( @pacoboyd@lemm.ee ) 2•10 months ago
You can self host for a better experience
- Caravaggio ( @Caravaggio@feddit.nl ) 3•10 months ago
I don’t want to use Brave Search for a number of reasons.
Mind sharing? I’m curious because I switched to DDG several days ago, after a good while of using Brave. My reasons were:
- defaulting to Moderate safe search every couple of days
- inability to provide me with good results for simple ‘[word] wiktionary’ queries
- having to block some elements of their result templates manually, using their own browser’s filtering feature (featured snippets, definitions etc)
- poorer search results compared to what they were a year, two ago
Some people here mentioned Kagi and I liked it a lot when I was beta-testing it, but I will only start paying for using it when they introduce full support for Boolean operators, which most likely means never.
I don’t like Brave as a company. Brendan Eich is an arsehole, Brave Browser has had (minor, but numerous) controversies, their crypto stuff is off-putting, and now they’re sticking their new AI into everything.
- jlow (he/him) ( @jlow@beehaw.org ) 3•10 months ago
I’m using https://metager.de/ it’s German and sometimes the results lean towards that but in 99% of cases it doesn’t matter.
There’s an English version out there, but some essential features are paid, such as enabling moderate safesearch or adding Mojeek as an engine.
- Pantherina ( @Pantherina@feddit.de ) 3•10 months ago
I have to say I used Random Searx a lot, startpage as Backup. And as VPNs are getting mainstream, it gets a pain in the ass. Mullvad Leta sucks too kinda. Now I use duckduckgo alone and actually never need my specially configured SearXNG search providers, although useful.
I have to say, I use a lot of search engines. Using the “Add custom search” Addon on Firefox you can easily add any URL containing a search word to your browser.
I maintain some lists of search engines that need updating.
- PuppyOSAndCoffee ( @PuppyOSAndCoffee@lemmy.ml ) 2•10 months ago
A random thought
Do we really want search engines ?
Or, do we want AI to tell us the answers to our questions?
We want search engines. GPT-3.5 has a knowledge cutoff in 2021, so I only really use it for software recommendations and text/code formatting.
- PuppyOSAndCoffee ( @PuppyOSAndCoffee@lemmy.ml ) 2•10 months ago
I am surprised that we wouldn’t prefer better AI.
Search engines today are geared to point us to a site where we then search again for our answer.
I am now just realizing I’d rather get a range of answers.
I wonder if that’s where we end up, a massive “wikipedia” of online nuggets of varying degrees of preferential truthiness….
- AnonStoleMyPants ( @AnonStoleMyPants@sopuli.xyz ) 7•10 months ago
Considering how often chatGPT gives complete and utter bs answers, I think I’d rather find the info on my own.
- MajorMajormajormajor ( @MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca ) 2•10 months ago
Let me go ask chatgbt for the answer, hold on one second.
tbh im not sure but if you want google results with safesearch try resulti
- ses hat ( @lcb@lemmy.ml ) 2•10 months ago
Maybe some will dislike , but i use yandex, i don’t know why, but i get good results. I prefer to give them my info and not google
Definitely not. Never mind “out of the frying pan, into the fire”; for me, this is “out of the lake, into the fire”.
Using Yandex would involve giving my personal data to Russia. The possibility of my data falling into the wrong hands is the main reason I am looking for a private search engine; I’m certainly not then about to just walk up to the wrong hands and say “here you go”. Not to mention the censorship.
Besides, I’ve blacklisted the .ru, .su, and .рф, .москва, and .yandex TLDs in NextDNS.
- ses hat ( @lcb@lemmy.ml ) 2•10 months ago
Well i am far far from Russia so i don’t care, it can’t be worst compared to google. I don’t believe too much in the real privacy, one way or another 3 letter agencies will get the info.
- Devjavu ( @Devjavu@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 1•10 months ago
I’d say give SearXNG another try. Whats the issue exactly?
- Spaghetti_Hitchens ( @Spaghetti_Hitchens@kbin.social ) 3•10 months ago
I used SearXNG for over a month but found myself routinely returning to Google for either tech problem searches or because it was returning irrelevant results for homonyms.
I would love to return to it. Do you have any tips for better search results?
- chayleaf ( @chayleaf@lemmy.ml ) 2•10 months ago
- Depending on your language, use language codes like
:en
or:de
. Very important if your native language isn’t English. - You can choose the search engine using DDG shebangs like
!g
(or redirect yourself to Google using!!g
- If SearxNG using Google gives you much worse results, it just means Google has that much info about you. Nonetheless, that’s not my experience
- Depending on your language, use language codes like
- Devjavu ( @Devjavu@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 1•10 months ago
You can choose which search engines you actually want to use. SearXNG is a meta search engine, which means it just queries other search engines for their results. Lots of it’s results are some random wikis which most of the time do not help.