I don’t need Google anymore

TITLE: Why I Switched From Google Search to My Own Private Search Engine

The Search Engine That Changed Everything

Google Search revolutionized how we find information online, offering a clean interface that delivered relevant results with unprecedented accuracy. For years, it was the undisputed champion of search engines—fast, reliable, and remarkably effective at surfacing exactly what users needed. But somewhere along the way, the company‘s flagship product began to transform into something entirely different.

What started as a simple search box has evolved into a complex ecosystem of integrated services, personalized results, AI-generated summaries, and advertising platforms. The actual web results that made Google famous now compete for attention with numerous distractions, often appearing halfway down the page beneath various panels and features., according to according to reports

The Cluttered Reality of Modern Search

Today’s Google Search experience feels less like a tool for discovery and more like a digital carnival. Between “People also ask” boxes, video carousels, “Things to know” panels, and AI overviews, finding actual websites through organic search results requires scrolling past numerous Google-owned features. The company‘s shift toward keeping users within its ecosystem means the open web increasingly takes a backseat to Google’s own services and partners.

This transformation isn’t unique to Google—Microsoft’s Bing and other major search engines have followed similar paths, prioritizing engagement and monetization over pure information retrieval. The consequence is slower load times, reduced privacy, and search results that reflect what these companies want you to see rather than necessarily what’s most relevant to your query.

Discovering SearXNG: Search Without the Baggage

SearXNG represents a different approach to search—one that returns to the original vision of what a search engine should be. As an open-source metasearch engine, it aggregates results from multiple sources including Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and dozens of others, then presents them in a clean, privacy-focused interface. The project continues the work of the original Searx project with active development and enhanced features.

What makes SearXNG fundamentally different is its architecture and philosophy. Since it doesn’t maintain its own index of the web, it has no incentive to track users or prioritize certain results. There’s no user profiling, no personalized filtering, and most importantly, no advertising-driven manipulation of what you see., according to emerging trends

Setting Up Your Private Search Portal

Contrary to what you might expect, deploying your own SearXNG instance is surprisingly straightforward. The software runs on multiple platforms, with Docker providing perhaps the simplest installation method regardless of your operating system. For Windows users, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) offers another viable path, while Linux and macOS users can install it directly., according to industry experts

The basic setup involves pulling the SearXNG Docker image and running it with a single command. The engine then binds to port 8080 by default, making it accessible through any web browser at localhost:8080. If you have a spare server or VPS, you can host it under your own domain for remote access, creating your personal search portal available from anywhere., according to related coverage

For those who want to try SearXNG without installation, public instances maintained by the community offer immediate access. While these don’t provide the same level of privacy as a self-hosted instance, they still offer significant advantages over traditional search engines.

Unparalleled Customization and Control

Where SearXNG truly shines is in its customization capabilities. The Preferences panel reveals extensive configuration options that let you tailor every aspect of your search experience. You can:, as as previously reported

• Select specific search engines for each category (general, images, news, etc.)
• Prioritize academic sources for research queries
• Filter by license type when searching for images or media
• Modify the interface with different themes and layouts
• Add functionality through plugins for translation, filtering, or instant answers

The engine’s flexibility extends to output formats as well. While HTML is the default for browser-based searching, SearXNG can return results in JSON format for programmatic use, making it ideal for integration with scripts, applications, and local AI models.

The Speed of Pure Search

One of the most noticeable differences when using SearXNG is its speed. Despite running on consumer hardware rather than Google’s massive server infrastructure, queries often feel faster. This performance improvement comes from eliminating the overhead of tracking, personalization, and ad targeting that slow down commercial search engines.

You can actually watch as SearXNG sends your query to multiple search engines simultaneously, then merges and deduplicates the results in real-time. This transparent process demonstrates how metasearch works while providing comprehensive coverage from across the web.

Why This Matters for Industrial and Technical Users

For professionals in industrial computing, manufacturing, engineering, and technical fields, search quality isn’t just a convenience—it’s a necessity. The ability to find precise technical documentation, manufacturer specifications, academic research, and specialized information without commercial filtering is invaluable.

SearXNG’s ability to prioritize academic sources, technical databases, and specific file types makes it particularly useful for research and development work. The open-source nature of the project means it can be customized for specific industrial applications or integrated with internal knowledge bases.

Is It Time to Rethink Your Search Strategy?

After using SearXNG as my primary search engine for several weeks, I’ve found that the absence of distractions and commercial influence has made me more efficient at finding information. The clean interface and focused results have changed how I approach search, returning to the original purpose of the tool: finding what you’re looking for quickly and accurately.

While Google’s ecosystem of services remains valuable for many applications, the search engine itself has become something I no longer need. For technical professionals and anyone tired of commercial search experiences, SearXNG offers comprehensive documentation and a refreshing alternative that puts control back in users’ hands.

The question isn’t whether you should completely abandon Google—the company offers many valuable services beyond search. The real question is whether you still need Google.com when cleaner, faster, more private alternatives exist that often provide better results for technical and professional queries.

References & Further Reading

This article draws from multiple authoritative sources. For more information, please consult:

• https://docs.searxng.org/
• https://github.com/searxng/searxng
• https://searx.space/

This article aggregates information from publicly available sources. All trademarks and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Note: Featured image is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent any specific product, service, or entity mentioned in this article.