Google has long held a firm grip on the search engine landscape, but that dominant veneer is starting to show cracks.
In recent months, regulatory scrutiny, public mistrust, and rising anxiety around AI have pushed digital privacy into the spotlight.
Millions of users are now evaluating their relationship with “big tech” and actively seeking alternatives, prioritizing trust and anonymity.
What was once relegated to being a niche concern is now a broader user shift, with privacy-first search engines gaining momentum across various demographics.
The Privacy Shift
Recent stats clearly show that people are becoming more privacy-aware and want greater control.
Norton reports that 85% of users globally want tighter reins on their data.
In the U.S., over 87% of voters back restrictions on the sale of personal data without consent, while 86% support limits on what companies can collect in the first place.
That awareness is turning into action.
A 2024 study found that 51% of users between 18 and 24 actively take steps to protect their digital footprint. This shows how people search, with apparent platform choices and behavior shifts.
DuckDuckGo, Brave, And The “Privacy Engine” Movement
DuckDuckGo is at the forefront of this change. Since its launch in 2008, it’s grown into a major player with over 100 million daily searches.
Brave Search, integrated into the privacy-focused Brave browser, is also gaining ground. Built on an index from its own crawler and a number of “crowd-sourced” sources, DDG is committed to ad-free, unbiased results.
Brave reflects the demand for tools that serve users rather than advertisers.
These platforms highlight a growing appetite for search options among a growing user base that rejects surveillance and upholds user agency.
The Rise Of New Privacy Engines
Awareness around data tracking has driven more users to seek out search engines that don’t rely on surveillance-based business models.
Traditional engines like Google and Bing have come under fire for harvesting user data to fuel targeted advertising.
In contrast, privacy-first search engines are gaining traction by rejecting tracking, behavioral profiling, and data retention, offering users more control and transparency over how their search activity is handled.
While DuckDuckGo is the front-runner when it comes to privacy-focused search engines, there are a number of players in this category. To better understand them, I reached out to their teams to dig deeper than the information just found online.
Swisscows
One rising contender is Swisscows, a Switzerland-based engine that recently marked its 10-year milestone.
It’s more than a search engine; it’s a whole ecosystem with encrypted messaging, secure cloud storage, VPN services, and an AI-powered summary tool focused on keeping user data private.
With roughly 25 million searches per month and a user base spanning Switzerland, the U.S., and Germany, Swisscows stands out for filtering out adult and violent content, making it popular among educators and families.
Its results come from its own index and Brave, chosen for their privacy-first approach.
“We don’t personalize or profile users,” the team told me. “That means more neutral, manipulation-free search results.”
Swisscows is also investing in semantic search and AI, aiming not to build chatbots but to improve information discovery and trend insights, hinting at a more ethical path for AI in search.
Startpage
Another major player is Startpage, which operates out of the Netherlands. The company has also rolled out a private browsing app, handling billions of searches yearly.
Startpage also doesn’t engage in user profiling. That means no tracking, no cookies by default, and no storing of IP addresses.
Users get results sourced from Google and Bing, but do not have the data collection that typically comes with them.
“People are simply done with being watched,” said the Startpage team. “As AI becomes more embedded in search, the demand for privacy is only increasing. Trust depends on clear policies and a commitment to not compromise user rights.”
Mojeek
Then there’s Mojeek, an independent engine with indexing and server infrastructure.
Unlike privacy-conscious tools that piggyback off bigger indexes, Mojeek runs its stack out of one of the UK’s most sustainable data centers.
By 2022, its index had hit 6 billion pages, a sizable feat for a standalone engine.
Mojeek doesn’t store search histories, use cookies, or track users. It delivers the same results to everyone, providing a transparent alternative to mainstream engines’ personalization-heavy approaches.
It’s also the default choice on several privacy-oriented browsers, like Privacy Browser, and is integrated into Pale Moon, SerenityOS, and Kagi Search.
What’s Fuelling The Shift?
This movement isn’t just about escaping ads or dodging trackers but reclaiming control.
AI-driven tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Bing AI are reshaping search by relying more on user data than ever.
As AI becomes more integrated into search engines, privacy becomes a central point of differentiation.
At the same time, regulatory pressure is intensifying. Governments are pushing back on unchecked data use, from the GDPR and the Digital Services Act in Europe to the proposed American Privacy Rights Act.
By the end of 2024, modern data protection laws were expected to cover three-quarters of the global population, reflecting a worldwide demand for stricter safeguards.
Optimizing For Privacy Search Engines
To optimize for privacy-first search engines like Swisscows and Startpage, marketers need to rethink their strategies.
Standard SEO tactics that depend heavily on tracking user behavior don’t hold up well when personalization is limited.
Instead, the focus shifts to a deeper understanding of the audience, what questions they’re asking, how they phrase them, and the intent behind their searches.
Creating content that directly answers real user needs, keeping the site structure intuitive, and using language that clearly reflects search intent has become a central focus.
Without behavioral tracking, insight must come from sources like on-site search data, user reviews, forum conversations, and direct feedback.
In this space, winning in SEO means less about gaming the system and more about delivering practical, trustworthy information in a straightforward way.
The Future Of Search Is Changing
Traditional search engines are increasingly wrapped up in advertising and AI. Still, privacy-first options are emerging as both safer and more ethical alternatives.
Whether it’s Swisscows with its commitment to content integrity or Startpage delivering Google-quality results without the tracking, these platforms represent a new direction shaped by more informed, privacy-conscious users.
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Featured Image: Thapana_Studio/Shutterstock
