Tag Archives: Google

Why You Should Drop Google, Bing And Use DuckDuckGo For Downloading Files

Very often, to download applications we simply search on Google (or other search engines like Bing etc) and click on the first link (mostly) instead of going to the respective software’s official download page. Although Google does a good job of listing the relevant searched terms, the first few links may not be genuine. For example a search of VLC Media player on Google shows the following result, although the paid listings are at the top the subsequent results may or may not be official sites unless you are familiar with them. vlc-google-search-results

A similar search on Microsoft Bing Search Engine shows the following result:

vlc-bing-search-results

Now try the same search on DuckDuckGo. Why I recommend DuckDuckGo over other search engines is that it highlights the Official Site prominently (a distinct red button as in the image below).  You can be assured about the authenticity of the site and the download. This apart from DuckDuckGo being a secure search engine and also it does not store or track personally identifiable information like other search engines like google, bing and etc.

duckduckgo-search-results-show-official-pages

Another DuckDuckGo Search result showing official site for notepad++

notepadplus-duckduckgo-search-results

You might also find the following articles interesting:

How to Turn Off Shared Endorsements in Google

Google has  revised its policies relating to how your information including Profile names, Photos etc could be used in advertisements as well as product endorsements.

How Shared Endorsements work
How Shared Endorsements work

Here is how shared endorsements actually work: Say if you have written a review, followed, shared or  +1 an app in the Google Play store, or a Google places, Maps etc, Google can share your information like profile, photo and etc when your friends visit those pages. Actually Google says it can use these information in commercial as well as promotional contexts. These hold good for other Google services like Music store, Google+ pages etc To know more about Shared Endorsements work, click here.

If you would like to turn off the shared endorsement, here is what you must do:

How to Turn off Shared Endorsement

  • Login to your Google account
  • Go to shared endorsements page (can be accessed via Google+ page) or click here  for direct access
  • Scroll down the page and uncheck the box besides “Based on my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads.
  • Click on Save