Google isn’t playing nice in the sandbox. Or maybe it's just getting too big for its britches. Those are the messages coming from the U.S. Department of Justice, where a federal judge recently ruled that the company illegally monopolized the online search and advertising industries through its long-standing partnerships with tech giants like Samsung and Apple.  

Google's leaders, of course, aren’t pleased with the decision. Its president of global affairs says the company will appeal. Still, now is as good a time as any for us to take stock of our Google dependence and consider the alternatives. After all, we don’t have to “google” anything, and there’s a whole other world of search engines out there where we can Bing, Ask and DuckDuck to our heart’s content.  

Why not Google?  

Google is the premiere search engine because it’s fast, easy to use and integrates with a bunch of other apps and tools that you probably already use, like YouTube, Gmail and Google Docs. It’s also popular because it’s the default search engine on most mobile devices, including Apple’s Safari, and that’s where the Justice Department’s argument comes in. Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., paid Apple $20 billion in 2022 to be the default search engine for Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac. 

But breaking free from the crowd isn’t the only reason to consider taking your search traffic elsewhere. That colorful, familiar Google logo hides decades of privacy concerns, personal data mining and search results that aren’t always what you’re looking for. Aside from social media platforms where we willingly upload everything about our lives, Google probably knows more about you than any other company, and it uses that knowledge to serve you ads it thinks you’ll click on.  

With your personal data as the center of its business model, Google wields incredible power, and it’s on the receiving end of lawsuits in the U.S. and abroad for that very reason. Somewhat ironically, that has led Google’s own search trend to show enormous spikes recently in questions like “What’s the best alternative to Google,” and “What is the most honest search engine?”  

Is there a more private search engine than Google?  

If privacy is your priority, DuckDuckGo offers an alternative that may fit the bill. Founded on the premise that relevant search results don’t have to come with an exchange of personal data, DuckDuckGo doesn’t track searches or store your data to build a portfolio on you. The DuckDuckGo interface is clean and straightforward, and it presents results in a very Google-like way, with filters for region, date and other criteria.  

DuckDuckGo also offers searches for news, images, video and other types of results, just like Google, but it’s the privacy features that the company hangs its hat on. You can even upgrade to Privacy Pro (for $9.99 a month) to gain access to a built-in VPN, remove personal information from data brokers who sell your info and identify theft restoration, should you need it.  

The downsides here are minimal but worth considering: Without any personalized tracking, the search engine’s results may be slightly less relevant to you specifically. This isn’t much of an issue for most searches, but Google has the upper hand regarding personalized results. Additionally, DuckDuckGo may have fewer results for ultra-niche topics − particular interest in spinning dog hair into yarn or ball-jointed doll collecting, anyone? The company pulls from hundreds of sources, including Bing and Yahoo!, in addition to its own web crawler, so you’ll rarely find the results lacking. 

What’s the best search engine for visual results?

If you want eye-catching results, Bing is the place to be. Microsoft’s search engine competitor prioritizes high-quality imagery and videos and loves adding little pop-up tools and bells and whistles wherever possible.  

The actual layout of the results page is very Google-esque, but it has a more Instagram or Pinterest feel compared with Google's more austere look and feel. Bing also promotes search suggestions and offers larger previews of news stories, Wikipedia entries, and other results front and center.   

Bing was also one of the first search engines to embrace AI and gives you full access to Microsoft’s Copilot AI to answer questions and pull data from the web, providing summaries of topics front and center. Bing also has a rewards program in which you can earn points to redeem for real-life goodies, which is a decent incentive.  

Search results suffer a bit from the “It’s just not Google” bug, and ad placement can sometimes throw off the otherwise super-chill aesthetic and vibe. The worst is when the site listings are ads, but Bing makes them blend in with your authentic search results in a sneaky way. I don’t like that. Bing also doesn’t promise the same privacy protections as DuckDuckGo, and it’s linked to your Microsoft account (assuming you have one).  

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Whatever happened to Yahoo!? 

The heated search engine war between Google and Yahoo! may be long gone, but Yahoo!’s still one of the most-visited sites on the internet, and its search is no slouch. Powered primarily by Bing, the results are similar to what you’ll see on Microsoft’s search site, which means they’re pretty good.  

You might wonder why you’d use Yahoo! at all if it leverages Bing, and that’s a great question. Yahoo! isn’t just a search engine, of course; all of the added features and tools are the real draw here.  

Yahoo! Finance remains one of the best places to check for business news and stock information. Its news and sports coverage is robust, and I still use Yahoo! Mail. Yes, that officially makes me old, but I’m in good company alongside more than 220 million people.  

Having a powerful search feature means Yahoo! is still a one-stop shop for many internet users who aren’t keen on the Google ecosystem.  

One significant criticism of Yahoo! Search is just … what happened? It’s not the premiere product of Marissa Mayers’ golden years (she was the CEO from 2012 to 2017), and I miss those days. Now, Yahoo! is kind of like Facebook versus Instagram, and just doesn’t carry the hip-club vibe where everyone wants to hang out anymore. Also, Yahoo! Search gets a few updates and changes, and it shows.  

Still, it makes a strong case if you like the idea of a search engine alongside a modern email client, news aggregation and real-time stock info.  

What about AOL search? Or Ask?  

AOL as a web search engine is still alive and kicking, though under the same company as Yahoo!, and nowhere near its old glory days either. Its interface is slick and clean, like Yahoo!’s, with an option to filter potentially offensive results. The image search filters are top-notch but not as good as Google’s. Privacy is not its strong suit, though; location and activity tracking are turned on by default, so be sure to toggle those off if you want to fly under the radar.  

Old internet heads will likely remember the days when Ask Jeeves was the most fantastic website around. Today, Ask.com is what remains, and while it’s not nearly as revolutionary as it was two decades ago, it’s still worth considering as a stand-in for Google. The site works best when you ask a question but produces results like other search engines in an instantly familiar list format.  

The biggest downside of using Ask.com is the occasional random search result. For example, searching for “Travis Kelce” returns results for a bunch of other Travises − singer Randy Travis, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and even construction firm Travis Perkins − higher than anything about the NFL player. This may be because Ask farms out its search duties to other companies and heavily seeds the search results with paid placements.  

What are some other alternatives to Google Search? 

There are dozens more niche sites where you can also begin your web search online.  

• Search site Ecosia plants trees in environmentally sensitive areas when you use it, and it promises to protect your privacy.  

• Gibiru is another alternative that prioritizes privacy. According to Gibiru, there is no activity tracking, ads or agenda to follow you around the internet.  

• If a more emotional connection is what you’re after, take a look at the UK-based site Mojeek. It also says it doesn’t track you or sell your data, but the really interesting part is that it lets you search based on an emotion. Type in your query and click on an emoji-like icon such as a heart for “love,” a laughing face for “haha,” and a surprised face for “wow,” among others. When I searched for “Olympic breakdancer Raygun,” the site offered up some unique and different results when I clocked the “love” icon versus the “sad” icon. It’s interesting but still super-niche, and it looks like an early iteration of an idea versus something worth switching to right now.  

There are many more out there, so if you’ve found a Google alternative you cannot stop talking with your friends about, let me know!  

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and on-air correspondent. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected].