[tor-talk] Start Page & Ixquick - same now

[Joe Btfsplk]

On 4/8/2016 6:54 AM, Spencer wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Google is best search ever.
>
> StartPage proxy works sometimes for some things.
1.  AFAIK, Startpage has always "been Google" - just private.  And SP / 
Ixquick don't try to present the results at top of list - they think 
you'd be most likely to buy from.
Google's been accused many times of showing results _they_ want you to 
see, not necessarily what you want to see.
What type results Google "gives" to SP or Ixquick when they query Google 
- don't know.
One could do tests - same search in Google, then immediately in SP - or 
any other that scrapes Google.  This has been done many times.

2.  Ixquick.com *(USA servers)* is now exactly same as Startpage.com or 
vice versa - both scrape Google.
* Neither reports anything to Google, _nor which links you follow_ - if 
"Post" method is selected - by default in SP / IxQ settings.
* Both also offer proxy browsing of search hits thru their servers. If 
using regular browsers & don't want sites or ISP to see searches 
"impotence treatment" from your IPa.
* Both offer option for SP / IxQ to search only European servers - or 
others - exclude US servers.

> "Only connect to servers that are"
> * closest / fastest
> * EU servers
> * US servers
> * Asian servers
> (Click here for details)
* Neither logs anything, including IPa, search terms or followed links;
* Neither requires java script or cookies (for default settings searches);

3.  The address - Ixquick.eu - they say *still uses meta search.* Still 
same privacy policy.
https://support.ixquick.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/103/19/what-is-the-difference-between-ixquickcom-and-ixquickeu
Oddly (kind of), Ixquick.eu only gives choices of searching EU AND N. 
American servers, or including engines outside those areas.
> "Search engine sources - Choose whether to include high-quality 
> sources outside of Europe and North America. Your search query is 
> anonymously forwarded to sources to retrieve their results."
> * European and North American engines
> * Also include engines from other areas
You can customize search & results *Settings*  prefs for all these -  
clicking the 3 horizontal line icon - in top, left page corner - looks 
like Fx Menu / Customize icon.  Then save those settings by:
- a cookie
- a URL (plain or obfuscated) - use as bookmark
- create & install an obfuscated custom search plugin (shows like all 
others in Firefox search mgr), AFTER the URL's been created.  Shows up 
as "Ixquick (or Startpage) Custom Search".

Ixquick says it makes $ by users clicking on a few "sponsored" search 
results - at the top or bottom of search results.

Interesting comment & mention of a book on the subject - how 
non-anonymous users of non-private search engines (google, yahoo, etc.) 
eventually get served more of what the search engines want you to see, 
not always what you want:
"How Ixquick keeps you out of the "Filter Bubble" (and some other 
private search engines)
https://support.ixquick.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/1186/19/how-ixquick-keeps-you-out-of-the-filter-bubble