Are you ready to escape from Google? Start by changing the virtual search engine for your phone

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It is difficult to imagine life without Google. The Internet as we know it is built search enginesGoogle is the largest of them. In 2024, Google was the primary search engine for 76 % of desktop users and 95 % of mobile phone users.

Even if you don’t have Google Chrome on your device, you may use Google Search several times a day without thinking about it.

If you have iPhone and open the Safari app for a search, then you use Google. This is not a coincidence: Google Apple pays $ 20 billion a year To be the default search engine in Safari. This can be a problem, especially if you are I am tired of seeing an Overview of Amnesty International from Google.

What if you prefer to search in the old way, by browsing through the blue link menu without the help of artificial intelligence? Or what if you don’t want to use Google at all? How can you look at something without “Googling It”?

In fact, you can switch the virtual search engine in most of the web browsers, which is not trouble – you just need to know where to look.

How can I change the default search engine in Safari?

The virtual Safari falls back to Google to search, but it also allows you to choose from one of these options instead: Yahoo, Bing, Duckduckinggo or Ecosia.

Although the Yahoo search engine is less popular than Google, it first appeared in 1995, that is, three years before the official Google launch. Duckduckgo was launched in 2008, followed by Microsoft Bing and Ecosia in 2009.

Duckduckgo It is a search engine that will not track searches automatically. Although it shows you ads based on what you are looking for, he will not save the search record and personal data to show you the targeted ads (the way most other search engines do).

Ecosia The profits are used from its search engine to support climate movement, with an advertisement with the purpose of planting more trees all over the world. Provides Google Search Results By defaultAlthough it gives you the option to switch to Microsoft Bing.

If you want to use a Google search engine in the Safari iOS app, go to SettingsThen click ApplicationsThen click Safari. Then specify Search engine To see your options.

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Screen shot by Jason Chun/CNET

How can I change my default search engine for Microsoft Edge and Firefox?

If you are using Microsoft Edge, go to the same application and click on the three hamburger icon. Go to your own SettingsHandle Searchesthen Select the search engine. Edge Bing uses default, but you can also select Yahoo, Duckducking, Yandex and Yes, Google.

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Screen shot by Jason Chun/CNET

If you use Firefox and want to change your virtual search engine, go to the app and click (…) to access your settings. Under the general section, click SearchesThen move to Virtual search engine. You will be able to choose from Bing, Duckduckgo, Google, Wikipedia and EBY. If you want to use an option that you don’t see, you can go to Alternative search engines And choose Add search engine.

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Screen shot by Jason Chun/CNET

Can I change the Google Chrome default engine?

Interestingly, you can also change the virtual search engine in the Google Chrome app. Just click on the image of your profile to withdraw you Settings. He chooses Search engine You will see the following options: Google, Microsoft Bing, Yahoo, Duckduckgo and Yandex.

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Screen shot by Jason Chun/CNET

Google research is so common that many of us have not stopped thinking about using an alternative. But as our search engines continue to develop in this era of artificial intelligence, it is useful to know that you have other ways to find information online.





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