First thing's first...Al Gore did not invent the internet, but he was "the first political leader to recognize the importance of the internet and to promote and support its development." ~ Bob Khan & Vint Cerf The internet...hold on..excuse me, the World Wide Web...was born in 1989, (clearly the actual internet started many years before with the implementation of TCP/IP..the set of rules that governs the connection of computer systems to the Internet, in 1983). It's meant to connect the world, grant us access to a vast wealth of information, we can buy things, sell things, build businesses, and connect with other people ( hello social media). So it is safe to assume that while all these things are happening information is being shared right? But outside of who we're actually sending it to, who else sees it?
How we connect to the internet...
A web browser is a software program that allows a user to locate, access, and display web pages. Techopedia
So of course we aren't typing in a string of commands on a blank prompt to get online, we're using a web browser on our computer. If you're on Windows by default you get Internet Explorer, Macs have Safari, Chromebooks come with well Chrome. All have pros and cons. There's also other alternatives out there because well it's tech, there's always more. There's Firefox, Opera, and a host of other ones. Firefox is my go-to even on my Mac. I use a Windows PC for work and I have it on there too. All internet browsers now have a included feature that allow you to surf the web and when you're done it deletes cookies, and helps prevent the browser from storing your data. But it doesn't prevent or stop sites from gathering information about you visiting the site, so you're not invisible online or anything.
But really most of the time you're using a search engine to find what you're looking for outside of using a exact web address, right?
Soo in that arena it gets a little tighter, the pool isn't as big. When someone say's go search for something they tell...you....to.... "GOOGLE IT" right? Google is unquestionably THE king of this arena. But in a New York times article a couple of weeks ago, another competitor is trying to cut into that lead, enter Duck Duck Go.
What is Duck Duck Go?
Now I know you're thinking about the childhood game Duck, Duck, Goose; I'm talking about the search engine that is now cutting into the market that Google dominates. It's now handling up to 40 million searches a day! And to think as huge as that number is, that's a small fraction of how many Google searches are done a day.
So what is making so many people use something you probably have never heard of? PRIVACY....Duck Duck Go, doesn't collect or share your personal information. They don't store your information or allow advertisers to track you..so no ads about something you searched for earlier in the day or clicked on from another site. Something DDG says Google does, like keeps it forever, which can be hacked or turned over to the government. Oh and this isn't some new service, Duck Duck Go has been around for 10 years and is just making this type of dent in the market. The search results aren't as tailored, or "fill in the gap-ish" as Google, because there is no data stored. But otherwise you can do the same things, Duck Duck Go is even an available search provider in Google's own web browser, Chrome.
Soo thoughts? I think, well I know use of Google is so much more than a search engine for alot of us, myself included. But have you tried Duck Duck Go? Do you opt for "private" sessions when you do searches? Any other search engines you use instead of Google?