Why Yandex is the best search engine. Period.

It really does 'find everything'

The normal people usually use Google. Some of the more advanced and privacy-focused people use DuckDuckGo.

I use Yandex, and you can’t stop me.

Let me start from the beginning. I used to use and love Google, until at one point I realized that it wasn’t privacy-respecting whatsoever. Then I transferred over to DuckDuckGo and SearX. I used SearX to get Google’s search results when I wanted them, and DuckDuckGo for general searchery. But now I’ve come to realize that if I want real results, they all suck. All except for one.

Yandex Search

While yes, Yandex is a Russian-owned company that probably collects your data, Google gets way more and will sell it to foreign countries anyway. If anything it just cuts the middleman out from the stealing of your data.

Here’s an example. Try searching a controversial website like Kiwi Farms or 8chan (8kun). If you’re lucky, you might get results on DuckDuckGo, but they have a history of censoring results. Search engines and Internet companies have reasons to do so, mostly keeping a good image for themselves by hiding anything that strays away from the mainstream. But just because you’re trying to get to a website that lots of people hate doesn’t mean you’re supporting it. If you stay informed about the enemy, you can defend against them.

Back to my example though. 8chan and Kiwi Farms do not show up on Google. Sometimes they do on DDG, but I’ve seen instances where they are nonexistent. Yandex shows both every single time, as well as other sites that the majority of search engines try and hide.

Conclusion

This was a short talk about why I like Yandex. Maybe the title was a bit misleading or untrue, but I enjoy it. Ultimately it’s your choice and I can’t make you use a search engine. Just know if you like getting deep in the online, Yandex is probably a good place to start.

Thanks for reading.