Because DDG has bangs [0]

[0] https://duckduckgo.com/bang

Compare their privacy policies. Otherwise you are right and it's better to use https://yacy.net and SearX.

1) I use VPN anyway, so Bing doesn't know who I am.

2) Bing belongs to Microsoft whose primary business is to sell software, not ads, so they are less dependent on collecting user information.

3) If I wanted a search aggregator, I would use a non-US company, for example, Qwant.

1) VPNs only hide your IP address. They don't make you anonymous. Search engines and websites can still track you.

2) If it's non-private, it still collects personal data.

3) Or Startpage - HQed in the Netherlands, hides IP address, Anonymous View feature lets you visit results in private, and Google results.

Well, I do everything I can to avoid tracking. I don't use any G$$gle service, browse with Firefox with a bunch of anti-spying extensions. Startpage is good, I switch to it if qwant doesn't produce the required result. But I heard it feeds into G$$gle.

> Microsoft whose primary business is to sell software, not ads, so they are less dependent on collecting user information.

If it was true they would not collect every keystroke on their OS.

Yeah, and Bill Gates installs mind controlling chips via vaccines

yacy is interesting, thanks!