DuckDuckGo Not Showing Expected Search Results? What Should You Do?

If you are experiencing issues with DuckDuckGo not showing the expected search results, there are several potential reasons and solutions to consider:

Safe Search and Regional Restrictions

One common issue is related to Safe Search settings and regional restrictions. Even if you have turned off Safe Search in DuckDuckGo's settings, your country or region might enforce strict SafeSearch settings through Bing, which DuckDuckGo relies on for some of its search results. This can lead to the blocking of certain content, including adult or NSFW material, regardless of your local settings.

JavaScript Requirements

DuckDuckGo requires JavaScript to function properly. If you are using a browser or settings that block scripts, you may not get any search results. To work around this, you can use the non-JavaScript version of DuckDuckGo available at https://html.duckduckgo.com/html/.

DuckDuckGo has recently made changes to its search filters and operators. While most search filters have been disabled, the -site operator remains supported. Users have reported inconsistencies with other search operators, and DuckDuckGo has acknowledged these issues, stating they are working to address them.

Browser and Network Issues

Sometimes, the issue might be specific to the browser or network settings you are using. For example, users of the Brave browser have reported issues where DuckDuckGo searches fail, but switching to a different browser or checking the search engine URL in the browser settings can resolve the problem. Disabling extensions, clearing cache and cookies, or trying private mode can also help.

API and Script Issues

If you are using the DuckDuckGo API or scraping results from the website, you might encounter issues due to the API's limitations or the site's reliance on JavaScript. The API may not return all results, and parsing HTML directly can be a workaround, though it is less reliable due to potential changes in the HTML structure.

Steps to Troubleshoot

Check Safe Search Settings: Ensure that Safe Search is off in your DuckDuckGo settings, but also be aware of any regional restrictions.
Enable JavaScript: If you have JavaScript disabled, enable it or use the non-JavaScript version of DuckDuckGo.
Verify Browser Settings: Check your browser settings, especially if you are using a specific browser like Brave. Ensure the correct search engine URL is set.
Use Alternative Methods: If using the API, consider parsing HTML from the non-JavaScript version of the site.
Clear Cache and Cookies: Clear your browser's cache and cookies to see if it resolves the issue.
Check for Updates: Keep an eye on updates from DuckDuckGo regarding search filters and operators, as they may address ongoing issues.

By addressing these potential causes, you can often resolve the issue of not getting expected search results from DuckDuckGo.

6 Comments

I ask a specific question & I get everything but what I asked.

Searching in DDG on ‘MAGA books’ and it returns MANGA sites and mostly leftist authors.

I hate all the in your face interference that these browsers throw out when all we want to do is type in a URL and go to the website! Hands out dozens of unrelated links when all I’m trying to do is call up a web page. Why don’t they wise up and back off? 😡

Literally not one of the suggested reasons is why I’m getting bad search results. Nowadays the search results are sites in a broad mixture languages, which is almost never correct to the point of zero probability of being correct. Who wants maybe 40% of the results in English, another 40% in Spanish, French or German, and about 10% each in Russian and Chinese or some other Asian language. There are extremely few people who could even make use of that, fewer still who would want it. And US English language & region settings should never anything like that, yet it occurs all the time now, VPN or not, Chrome, Firefox or Edge or a handful of other browsers. Mobile or desktop, extensions or not, JS enabled, yada yada useless.

Sorry mate, you entirely missing the boat when loading
the burden on “customers” back.

DDG has significantly changed over the last couple of years.
First results always more or less ads – that was never ever
the case on DDG’s startup.
It even bends i.e. falsifies your search input for this purpose.

Picking one word which matches a site dismissing
its context. Put that into parenthesis – it often delivers nothing.

Copy+paste that into google and the results are much
better, not praising google at all.

No idea why – DDG became cr*ppy and its “your protection
is our priority” (right hand side top) is phony.

The fact that this company is hiding its origin, i.e. no way to
feedback this unwanted behaviour making you guessing
around too is very very concerning.

Me is sure click bait got DDG’s first aim or it went straight
on the payroll of the known giants.

Greed spoiled a once fine intention.

Kindest regards
Damian

I ask a specific question & I get everything but what I asked. Done with DDG.