Default start page search engine changed to DuckDuckGo

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Moonchild
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Default start page search engine changed to DuckDuckGo

Unread post by Moonchild » 2016-08-08, 19:32

As some of you have undoubtedly already noticed, the default search engine for the default start page of Pale Moon has been changed to DuckDuckGo from Google.

This was done for a few reasons, the most prominent ones being:
  • DuckDuckGo has been the default search engine in the browser itself for a long time. Having Google as the default on the start page as default didn't match up and created inconsistent default choices.
  • As you may know, the search engine traffic on that start page is a big portion of what gives me the income to make Pale Moon work at no cost to its users. Unfortunately Google has been pretty much cutting me off with claiming it is "invalid traffic" and that it would be a policy violation just because the browser is downloadable software - this is nonsense, because the web page the search traffic comes from is a normal, public web page like we've run since day one, and search traffic from the search bar or about:home pages is not monetized at all through Google's program (meaning 100% of that revenue goes to Google if used).
    With Google trying to pull a "we'll take your traffic but won't pay for it" on me (still pending a clear answer from them), it's high time to switch this over to our more reliable search partner DuckDuckGo.
If you prefer Google, despite knowing this, on the start page, you have a few options:
  • On the start page, in the search bar's drop-down menu on the right, select "Google".
    This choice will be remembered as long as you don't clear your cookies.

    We've removed this as an option after things with Google escalated. Please use one of the other options available.
  • Alternatively, you can register an account with start.me (it's free) and more fully customize your search experience.
    To do this, click the "customize" button in the top bar which will get you started with an anonymous account, although I do recommend you create a full account with them if you want to customize more.
  • Of course you can also just change your home page in Options to one of your choice (e.g. to Google Search or similar). This will effectively also end your support for the Pale Moon project through the start page.

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