DuckDuckGo Surpasses 100 Million Daily Search Queries For the First Time

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo reached a major milestone in its 12-year-old history last week when it recorded on Monday its first-ever day with more than 100 million user search queries. From a report: The achievement comes after a period of sustained growth the company has been seeing for the past two years, and especially since August 2020, when the search engine…

Google Search Rivals Urge EU To Revisit Android Antitrust Case

A group of search engines from around the world are banding together to demand European Union regulators address Google’s dominance in the online search market. They are also urging the EU to take a closer look at Google’s controversial auction process. From a report: The news comes hot on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust case, which…

‘Apple, Google and a Deal That Controls the Internet’

The New York Times’ looks at “a deal that controls the internet” — Apple’s agreement to feature Google as the preselected search engine for iPhones, saying America’s Justice Department views it “as a prime example of what prosecutors say are Google’s illegal tactics to protect its monopoly and choke off competition…” The scrutiny of the pact, which was first inked 15…

Microsoft’s Bing Will Have Key Slot on Some New Android Phones

Microsoft’s Bing search app will appear as a download prompt on new Android phones in Germany, the U.K. and France after it won slots in a Google auction for rivals. From a report: Google announced the results of its October-December auction on Tuesday, showing info.com won slots on a choice screen for new Android phones in all 31 countries, PrivacyWall won…

Some Google Search Rivals Lose Footing on Android System

A system Google set up to promote competition on Android has left some smaller search engines having trouble gaining traction, fueling rivals’ complaints about the tech giant’s compliance with a European Union antitrust decision ahead of potential U.S. charges. From a report: Since March, Alphabet-owned Google has been showing people in Europe who set up new mobile devices running the company’s…

Report: U.S. Anti-Trust Regulators Will Accuse Google of Crushing Competition to Maintain Monopoly

The U.S. government has readied an antitrust lawsuit against Google’s search engine, accusing the company of “crushing competition to protect and extend monopoly,” according to news reports: The move comes after a 14-month long investigation, where the U.S. Department of Justice probed whether Google distorts search results to favour its own products and shuts off access to competitors, sources told Bloomberg….

The Best Chrome Extensions To Prevent Creepy Web Tracking

Wired has highlighted several browser extensions that “are a simple first step in improving your online privacy.” Other steps to take include adding a privacy-first browser and VPN to further mask your web activity. An anonymous reader shares the report: Privacy Badger is one of the best options for blocking online tracking in your current browser. For a start, it’s created…

DuckDuckGo Is Growing Fast

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BleepingComputer: DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine, announced that August 2020 ended in over 2 billion total searches via its search platform. While Google remains the most popular search engine, DuckDuckGo has gained a great deal of traction in recent months as more and more users have begun to value their privacy on the internet….

Text Editor Notepad++ Banned In China After ‘Stand With Hong Kong’ Update

The website of Notepad++ is banned in China as of Monday, “obviously due to” its release of editions named “Free Uyghur” and “Stand with Hong Kong,” the source code and text editor announced on Twitter. TechCrunch reports: First released in 2003 by France-based developer Don Ho, free-to-use Notepad++ operates on Windows and supports some 90 languages. In his release notices for…

Google Rival’s Study Urges Letting Mobile Users Pick Search Defaults

Google could lose 20% of the mobile search market that it dominates if more users had the option to choose their default search provider via a preference menu, privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo argues in new research. From a report: This study fleshes out that idea and gives DuckDuckGo ammunition it can give authorities investigating Google for anticompetitive practices in the U.S.,…