DuckDuckGo Search Syntax

One essential tool for a web user is a general search engine. Sure, Google is currently the popular option, but it has some problems. Google has a quality problem for one. Google’s search results have lowered in quality over the last few years. Also, using AI to summarize search results means traffic is no longer being sent back to site owners. Can we really trust that AI summarized the results correctly? What details did AI overlook, that might have been the very thing that you needed to know? Additionally, more and more people are moving away from Google due to privacy concerns. You add all that up, and it’s clear that Google has lost its luster. So, If you’re looking to change search engines, one with a useful search syntax, then I recommend DuckDuckGo (DDG) as a great Google alternative.

As a power user, you’ll want to learn the DuckDuckGo search syntax to get better search results. Most people instinctively know to wrap a phrase in quotes. What isn’t obvious is that DDG offers an advanced syntax, to help people narrow their search results. Including a file type is a great to narrow things down – especially if you know what you’re looking for. Including filetype:pdf is a great way to skip all the blogs!

Keyboard Shortcuts

For the productivity and keyboard warriors among you, you’ll be happy to know that DuckDuckGo also has keyboard shortcuts to navigate their search result pages. Keep your hands on the keyboard as you fly through the links.

Opportunities for Improvements

There are a couple of things that I’d like to see improved. The biggest area is the use of date ranges. Technically, specifying dates are already supported. However, you have to be on their page to manipulate the result. It’s not part of the search query you write. I want to be able to write date_start>=YYYY-MM-DD and date_end<=YYYY-MM-DD to narrow the results. Another feature I wish DDG had, is the use of Boolean operators. Their version doesn’t remove or add terms. It’s more wishy-washy by saying “less dogs” and “more dogs” respectively. What kind of person would want “less dogs”? I mean, really.

Wrap Up

These aren’t the only virtues of DuckDuckGo. I’ll write about more of them some other time. This is a a great foundation to build upon though – especially with all the shenanigans of AI companies. DuckDuckGo feels like a nice search engine. So next time you need to web search some news or other information, I hope that DDG is your starting point.