Ixquick was a privacy-focused metasearch engine that was founded in 1998 by Bob van der Linden. It was one of the first search engines to offer a "private search" option, which allowed users to search the web without their IP addresses being tracked. Ixquick also did not collect any personal information from its users, such as their names, email addresses, or browsing history.
In April 2018, Ixquick was rebranded as Startpage. The change was made in order to simplify the company's branding and to make it more clear that Startpage is a privacy-focused search engine. Startpage still offers the same privacy features as Ixquick, and it continues to be one of the most popular privacy-focused search engines in the world.
Here are some of the features that made Ixquick/Startpage a popular privacy-focused search engine:
It did not collect any personal information from its users.
It offered a "private search" option that allowed users to search the web without their IP addresses being tracked.
It used HTTPS to encrypt all search queries.
It did not show any ads.
If you are looking for a privacy-focused search engine, Startpage is a great option. It is easy to use and it offers a variety of privacy features that will help you protect your online privacy.
Here are some of the pros and cons of Ixquick/Startpage:
Pros:
Privacy-focused: Ixquick/Startpage does not collect any personal information from its users.
Secure: Ixquick/Startpage uses HTTPS to encrypt all search queries.
No ads: Ixquick/Startpage does not show any ads.
Easy to use: Ixquick/Startpage is easy to use and has a clean interface.
Cons:
Not as popular as other search engines: Ixquick/Startpage is not as popular as other search engines, such as Google and Bing. This means that the search index may not be as comprehensive as other search engines.
Can be slow: Ixquick/Startpage is a metasearch engine, which means that it aggregates results from other search engines. This can sometimes make searches slower than on other search engines.
Not as user-friendly as other search engines: Ixquick/Startpage is not as user-friendly as other search engines. The interface can be a bit clunky and the documentation is not as good.
Overall, Ixquick/Startpage is a great option for users who are looking for a privacy-focused search engine. It is not as popular as other search engines, but it is a powerful and reliable tool.
Mojeek is a privacy-focused search engine that was founded in 2004 by Robert Andersson. It is one of the few search engines that does not track its users or collect any personal information. Mojeek's search results are based on its own index of web pages, which is created by crawling the web independently of other search engines. This means that Mojeek's search results are not influenced by the biases of other search engines.