
DDG is flattered by GOOG's imitation of Lockable Safe Search - epi0Bauqu
http://duckduckgo.com/blog/lockable-safe-search.html
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smiler
I absolutely love the "mostly info sites" feature. This is so useful when
searching for a review of a specific product instead of being spammed with 200
price comparison sites, purporting to offer reviews, but they really don't

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dschobel
_For example, shared offices often use one IP address. If someone locks safe
search there, it is locked for everyone. But as a small company that strives
to offer a real alternative to Google, we can deal with an IP based
implementation._

So how does the DDG solution actually solve the problem?

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epi0Bauqu
It doesn't.

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sgk284
What about parents who don't want filtered sites on their own computers, just
on their kids? I think Google's approach is really reasonable. If you know how
to clear cookies, you know how to go to a different search engine to find what
you want. The colored balls also make it easy to check from a distance what
your child is up to.

I wouldn't want to be blocked based on IP, especially since it appears your
implementation doesn't allow it to be undone. People search for porn,
including parents. I like what DDG is up to, but this implementation is
majorly flawed.

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fromage
Duck Duck Go is now my primary search engine. Google has become such a bloated
crap with their local searches, blog searches, video searches, adwords ads and
suggestions.

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aw3c2
I too will give it a try. Setting my address bar (and "g") alias search to
Duck Duck Go. I wonder if I can start loving it. Currently I use Scroogle, a
proxy to Google.

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epi0Bauqu
Either way, please send me your feedback.

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mustpax
_Why didn't Google use IP addresses too? Because doing so poses its own
problems that a big company like Google doesn't want to deal with. For
example, shared offices often use one IP address. If someone locks safe search
there, it is locked for everyone._

This is a cool idea, but, as you admit, exceedingly error prone. There is no
reliable way to determine who actually owns an IP address. With dynamic IPs it
can even lead to one user blocking search for another user. Lock safe search,
renew DHCP license, repeat.

How do you plan to deal with these conflicts?

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epi0Bauqu
Unless and until there is some compelling reason to do so, I don't.

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thaumaturgy
So how do you handle dynamic IP spaces?

Otherwise, it's not all that hard for one Comcast or AT&T user to lock safe
search for their neighbors.

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epi0Bauqu
It's really meant for schools and businesses. However, if someone locks safe
search for their neighbors, that is OK with me.

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thaumaturgy
I think you're going to have to either re-evaluate this at some point in the
future, or be forced to deal with claims of censorship.

It's obvious that you don't care right now, but your current algorithm clearly
creates a diminishing market for "unsafe" search users, until they're forced
finally to buy themselves fixed IPs which hopefully haven't been locked by the
previous owner.

I'll stick my neck out here and say that, dammit, I ought to have the ability
to find pictures of naked people, and that someone else should not be able to
make that choice for me. And, furthermore, that _there's nothing wrong with
that_.

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byrneseyeview
DuckDuckGo has done an amazing job. It must be weird to basically be the beta
version of the beta version of what the bigger search engines are going to try
next.

One weird thing I've noticed: your normal search is more informational and
less commercial than Google's. For example:

[http://duckduckgo.com/?q=credit+cards&v=](http://duckduckgo.com/?q=credit+cards&v=)

Dmoz and the FTC outrank "creditcards.com"!

Are you disregarding a lot of the stuff companies do for SEO? Or what?

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epi0Bauqu
It is weird. Yes, where possible we're trying to get links from other, non-
commercial and less SEOd sources. Of course, those sources pose their own
problems...

We also have a non-commercial search type accessible from our home page that
further tries to reduce commercial links.

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byrneseyeview
Is this a business decision or a how-the-world-should-really-work decision?

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epi0Bauqu
Both, though the business tie-in was somewhat of an afterthought. That is I
started out being fed up with spam, pseudo-spam and SEOd commercial links in
Google. Then I slowly realized that when you back all those out, the end
result is indeed an interesting alternative worth pursuing in its own right.
Hence, the non-commercial ("less shopping sites") view.

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rgrove
Yahoo! Search had lockable SafeSearch settings long before either DDG or
Google (although, like Google's new implementation, it's cookie-based).

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epi0Bauqu
Do you work on search? What is the vibe like inside Yahoo right now?

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rgrove
I do. That's a pretty broad (and off-topic) question. I can't speak for
everyone at the company, but if I had to sum up how I personally feel:
hopeful.

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epi0Bauqu
I apologize for the off-topicness. I'm looking forward to more Yahoo search
innovations :). DDG uses both BOSS and YUI btw.

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rgrove
Didn't mean to scold; was just explaining my terseness. :)

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alphageek
I would take you more seriously if you had a better name and less-kiddish
website.

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epi0Bauqu
People seem to either love or hate the branding, which is fine by me because
there is love in there. With lockable safe search in particular, it works
rather well IMHO.

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wheels
I have a suspicion that were you to create a HN poll on the name you'd find
one category significantly larger than the other.

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epi0Bauqu
In the HN community, yes. Outside the HN community, it is completely the other
way around.

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colinplamondon
I know it comes up in every thread, but your name is really, really terrible.

