My Last Google Search Ever…

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@ stewofkc Christian Stewart Christian Stewart is a privacy researcher and reporter. Follow his latest coverage on YouTube.

All it took for me to switch to a private search engine

I turned on my computer and opened up my web browser, Firefox. My usual home page popped up: Google. There it was in the middle of the screen, the colorful letters that I’d grown so used to. They were so familiar.

For nearly twenty years the colorful letters were the first thing I saw every time I got on the internet. I saw Google more than I saw my brother, more than I saw anyone.

And the whole time, Google was looking back at me.

By spending so much time on Google and on the sites it directed me to, I was giving Google data about how I use the internet. It’s this information that Google used to become one of the world’s leaders in artificial intelligence.

My information along with everyone else using Google products helped its search engine become the best search engine in the world (miles ahead of its closest competition).

Unfortunately for Google, and sort of liberating for me, all it took was one search to kick my Google habit.

“private search engines”

What I saw next were Google’s suggestions for the private alternative search engines I could switch to.

This is a great list of private search engines. 👇

I found a few private search engines I like, and now I’m happy using them!

That was it, and now I don’t let Google know what I’m searching for anymore. Google knows the websites I visit thanks to Google Analytics running on most websites, but it’s good to know I’ve taken my search business elsewhere.

I don’t expect to inspire a mass migration away from Google. But, I’m just sharing my experience. Switching from Google isn’t hard, it just feels inconvenient at first. After all, I’ve been using it for 20 years.

Thanks for reading!

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