Okay, so what's the best alternative?

I think it's the default in the Vivaldi browser.

https://www.startpage.com/en/about-us

The results are typically as useful as other, bigger search engines, but not always.

No AI crap and an emphasis on privacy makes it worth it to me compared to Google.

So if I just downloaded Vivaldi what do I do with my Google Chrome just will stuff copy into Vivaldi? I would do this in a heartbeat but I need more guidance.

Google purposely ruined search years ago (~2020) because making search worse was the only way to "make number go up." Once they had a virtual monopoly on search (like 80+%) they could not continue growing at the desired rates by adding users, there were no more users to add by capturing more market share. So they had to make search lousier so that a user would have to search more times, more different phrases, to find what they were looking for. This degradation of search quality was done on purpose. And it was done after they took the guy who was head of ads and installed him as head of search.

Plus Google buries information in ways that seem like censorship. When Texas House Democrats fled the state to try to stop redistricting, I wanted to find out how to donate. I searched with many different keywords and could never find it in a Google search engine. When I switched to DuckDuckGo, it came up easily.

Also Google's Chrome browser is extremely insecure. I've removed it from my devices.

India's TimesNowNews.com says:
"'Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Google Chrome which could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code, obtain sensitive information, bypass security restrictions or cause denial of service (DoS) conditions on the targeted system," cybersecurity agency under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, reported.'

Soon there'll be no new information to train AI on anything that happened after 2026

— Will Bunch (@willbunch.bsky.social) 2026-05-19T20:28:09.164Z

to show that everything big business touches eventually dies. The Internet was once a thing of wonder... driven by people for information and connection to others near and far. It took the BBS idea and put it on steroids. I say give me back the days of the old BBS. Much better, IMO. Specific info was slower in getting to you, perhaps... but there was always someone out there that could and would answer your question... you just had to wait for a couple of mail drops to happen.

As an IT tech early on in my career, I remember wondering how we ever managed without the Internet. Questions I had about a specific error code or symptom could be answered as quickly as I could type the question into a search engine. It was as close to magic as I could imagine. I even put up my own website in the days before GUI was everywhere. I loved it. I could keep in touch with my Mom via email, which saved on phone bills (a big expense for me at the time, as my hubby was overseas). It made nearly everything so much easier.

But if there is one thing I learned early on in life, it's that anything that benefits people in general, big business will take over and destroy. My initial internet accounts were with a guy who started out in the BBS business. Was with him for years until he finally gave up the ghost as big business started buying out the little guys. We in IT said it was just the beginning. Eventually the Internet we knew would die as more and more companies fought for dominance and monopoly over first the aspects and then, eventually, the whole Internet. And here we are. The internet is dead as I once knew it. Even if you ask a question, now the "Internet" will hold it against you should the "Right" people question who you are and why you want to know something.

Gotta admit, the days of whitehouse.com were amusing, tho.

using Google search anymore my language will change to reflect that.

I've been using Ecosia, but may not stick with it. FI can be turned off, but it keeps being offered as an option.

When I go (reluctantly) to AI, there it is.

I have been looking at memories from the 70s.
What was that group I liked in Memphis in 1973, and what happened to them. The Hot Air Balloon in Overton Square.
(The We Two. Gene and Lyle)
Now I know the rest of the story.

Was it worth the electricity and water to do this? Hell no!

You'll get a regular Google search result, including the choices for "news," "videos," "images," etc.

It's weird. I like to read Sci-Fi. The AI's in at least most of the Sci-Fi lit I've read are really awesome. AI in real life is shit. Like the worst examples from Sci-Fi when they kill all the humans.

The worst part is that I just don't see how stealing intellectual property to "educate" them, is moving them in the right direction.

I don't think I've ever read a novel where they dealt with all the slop to get to an AI that actually becomes worth it. I'd be very curious to know how that might happen.

In the meantime, I try to avoid.

Google AI can just serve up all the information it gets from other sites directly without providing any links back to where it originally came from. This is eventually going to kill most of the Internet because traffic to most websites will drop to basically nothing unless they sign deals with Google.

I feel that way about most of the internet. Filtering out all the noise is increasingly a chore.