DuckDuckGo is one of the most popular search engines that focuses on privacy and a popular alternative to Google that thirsts for data. Unlike other search platforms, the site does not keep track of sensitive user information or share its search trends with advertisers. The site made another move that differentiates itself from Google last week: search results without piracy. On Friday, Torrentfreak discovered that the site had been indexed by many popular pirate websites, effectively removing them from search results. Piracy sites say goodbye to DuckDuckGo search results pic.twitter.com/SbvSBRa78z – yugatech.ph (@yugatech) April 16, 2022 DuckDuckGo has completely removed all domains for these sites from its database, leaving search results blank or showing only one result. This crackdown includes various types of hacking sites, such as torrent directories, movie streaming portals, and blogs with downloads of broken video games. However, many less popular piracy sites remain visible. The change removes DuckDuckGo’s potential copyright issues, even though it does not host any of the copyrighted content. Google has an automated system that eliminates potential listings that violate the DMCA, but has not prevented search results for the most popular piracy sites. They have also downgraded piracy websites in some areas, such as the United Kingdom. Surprisingly, the removal includes the youtube-dl homepage, a Python-based open source downloader for YouTube, and other online videos. Despite the challenges from the RIAA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation defended the legitimacy of youtube-dl, arguing that the tool is vital for archiving and documentation purposes. DuckDuckGo has not yet responded to reporters’ questions about the omission. The company recently entered the browser war with the release of the desktop browser that focuses on privacy for Windows and Mac, following the popular free browser for Android. Image credit: Dawit
