You can login to (using my preferences as an example) DDG and configure it to not use AI, but I mostly browse in private/incognito mode and don't care to login to DDG every time I open a browser. However, I - and you - don't have to login to enforce that preference; at least with DDG you can set a default search engine that automatically avoids it. Here are the parameters in mobile Firefox:

NoAI DDG parameters

Even in Chrome and Chrome derivatives, you can set a default search engine; I don't know the exact steps, but the end result should look similar to the above.

If you prefer to stick with Google, even they offer a no AI solution. I haven't used Google in years, but according to arstechnica, this would be the equivalent configuration:

Arsyechnica no AI parameters for Google

I've not used any other search engines since Altavista, so I can't provide details for each one, but hopefully this is a good starting point.

edit: It seems this changed ... Or maybe I had it wrong from the beginning, but I tested this when I posted it, so I think it changed. Regardless, the q= is not necessary currently.

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[–] 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)
  • [–] -1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

    They're fine in a pinch, they used to be a Google clone but in the past couple of years the quality has gone down and it seems they mostly source from Bing (though they dont provide statistics) (https://support.startpage.com/hc/en-us/articles/4522435533844-What-is-the-relationship-between-Startpage-and-your-search-partners-like-Google-and-Microsoft-Bing)

    Since DDG also primarily uses Bing, it does not provide any added value to my searchflow, so I'm not sure what is required to block AI in private searches on Startpage.

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