2y ago

DuckDuckGo CEO says Google kills competition through phone deals that make it hard for users to switch search engines

fortune.com DuckDuckGo CEO says Google kills competition through phone deals that make it hard for users to switch search engines: ‘It’s too many steps’

The federal government argues Google has smothered competition by paying companies such as Apple and Verizon to lock in its search engine as the default.

DuckDuckGo CEO says Google kills competition through phone deals that make it hard for users to switch search engines: ‘It’s too many steps’

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174 comments

I've been using freeadblocker browser after stumbling on it (with DDG as a search engine). Does it have anything to do with Google/chrome? I'm confused, because I've been using it for so long and it blocks all ads so I guess I don't know why no one is using it unless it's some Google stepchild I don't know about and I'm still googled without knowing it.
- Seems really fishy.
  Quite a few trackers: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.hsv.freeadblockerbrowser/latest/
  And so many red flags like a free VPN (so they route all your traffic), "powered with AI technology" (what for?), not open source…
  A browser is a very sensitive piece of software, you trust it with a lot of personal data. Don't use a random one like this one.
- Because I can use Firefox.
- Is that iOS, Android or PC? Do you have a link?
  
  Android. It seems to be available on Google play ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hsv.freeadblockerbrowser) now but I remember having to find the APK elsewhere when I first got it.
  
  Hmmm, that isn't open source, I don't know if one can trust it. Why does a browser need in-app purchases? Try Mull or Cromite.
  Edit: from the description, it uses Brave Search (to answer you question), so it doesn't send to Google your queries. But I'd be careful with an app with a bunch of SEO keywords in its description.

174 comments