Is one search engine safer than another?

I agree that Ixquick & DuckDuckGo are more private search engines & have used both.

No, I can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Google is safer than any other. However, (on Linux Mint) Firefox has Yahoo as their default search engine, I do tend to get a lot more questionable hits when I search. Which is why I use Google Chrome mostly on that OS. At least Google shows where they remove links that violates the copyrights of others.

Yahoo's search engine isn't much better than their email service. Bing is OK. The two that you mentioned are better (and safer) than Yahoo/Bing.

No search engine is 100% safe, that's where the user must use good judgement & safe computing practices. It also depends on what one is searching for, there are some things that many of the links provides, regardless of search engine, that may cause harm to one's OS & sneak in malware.

Cat

 

They are more search aggregators I think & utilise Google & Bing results anyway.

I've never noticed this with Yahoo! Search. Notwithstanding it has its 'SafeSearch' function. I really wouldn't state that Google was any safer, more likely the reverse.

You can change the default search engine on Firefox. Apparently there are a variety of ways to do it (see above posts). Firefox can be as safe as Chrome with some browser hardening (NoScript, RequestPolicy etc) but Chrome is probably the safest 'out of the box'. Google has a pretty good anti-malware filter anyway.

I don't honestly find any real difference between Google, Bing or Yahoo!. I have had a free Yahoo! Mail account for over ten years & a paid one for five (with my ISP). It was probably one of the best mails years ago, it went through some bad phases, but now is back on form. I used Gmail for quite a while & at one time transferred my work & other important contacts to it. However, recent 'improvements' to Gmail have convinced me to return to my Yahoo! Mail account.

The browser is always the most vulnerable program. A layered approach is always best. An AV with a decent anti-malware program (MBAM, SUPERAntiSpyware) or SpywareBlaster for Windows. I'm not too sure about Linux. You should be safer anyway.

 

Don't know for certain if search engine A is safer than B or vice versa. I believe that safety starts at home.

Use common sense, an updated anti virus & safer DNS like OpenDNS or NortonDNS.

Just my two pence.

 

Comodo Dragon http://www.comodo.com/home/browsers-toolbars/browser.php based on Chrome is meant to be even more secure so I read.