here are some tools I'm using to see less advertising, avoid LLM/AI-generated images and content, reduce the amount of my personal data that is stolen and resold, and basically make my use of technology more enjoyable. your mileage may vary.

tiny computer gif SEARCH ENGINES


rectangle button for &udm=14, ai-free search engine&UDM=14 allows you to search google without getting AI results or obtrusive ads
rectangle button for &udm=14, ai-free search enginestartpage is a privacy-first search engine without AI/LLM, but it does have ads. this is my default search engine right now.
rectangle button for duck duck go, with a cartoon pic of a duck on the leftduck duck go is a privacy-centered search engine, but it delivers AI answers by default and I don't love it tbh
marginalia button with a little search bar under the logofree and open-source (FOSS!) search engine focused on non-commercial content
88 by 31 pixel style button for wiby.me. the button is lavender with purple text, featuring a drawing of a lighthouse on the right side and a beachfront in the backgrounda search engine for discovering early-internet-style websites that feature creative and interesting content, without much of the bloat and commercialization of most sites you will find on google and the like. it is free and open source.


MY TIPS FOR BETTER SEARCHING      
  • change your 'new tab' or homepage to something other than google. I don't use the address bar for searching at all anymore, but if you like using it, you can easily change it to Startpage, Duck Duck Go, or another search engine. This page has a number of alt search engines you can search from directly, as well as a bunch of useful/common links like weather, open street maps, and internet radio.
  • use more targeted searching inside of websites you know should have the information. I've started going directly to wikipedia or a translation site I like instead of having my first stop be a broader search engine
  • organize yr bookmarks/save links in a way you will be able to access them. most internet browsers even let you search your bookmarks folder. if you have the time/basic coding skills (or wanna learn), you can even make yr own "startpage" like mine to remember and easily find websites and tools you find useful.