preface: I have ddg as my default search engine on all browsers on all computers I use and evangelize for them regularly.
DuckDuckGo SERPs DO suck. If you've used the service much, I don't think this requires a more detailed description but since you're asking I'll try to be more specific:
* The top links frequently link to content unrelated to what I'm looking for (Jasmine tea rather than the Jasmine testing framework e.g.). How google does this I don't know but rarely do they get it wrong in the same way
* It frequently takes more time/clicks for me to find what I'm looking for searching on a generic DDG search than google. (of course bang searches mean I'm only sometimes using generic/plain search on DDG.)
* The results on google are frequently just better. This is to say even if I find something that sort of answers my question on the list on DDG, there will be a better answer, higher, on google.
Basically, if you are searching the name of a company or something unmistakably clear, ddg performs just as well as google, but when you get into longer queries on more obscure subjects, the gap in performance between ddg & ggl widens really fast.
Is it clear what's meant by DDG results sucking? I don't think that's the nicest way to put it but as a long time DDG user I won't dispute the assertion.
Could all that be explained by bubbling? DDG starts without any context so you have to do the spadework of distinguishing jasmine from Jasmine, every time. Both a feature and a curse.
Not sure what you mean by bubbling. Are you referring to google's Evil Magic which does such a frustratingly good job of predict my intent? Yes, it is a double edged sword indeed.
DuckDuckGo SERPs DO suck. If you've used the service much, I don't think this requires a more detailed description but since you're asking I'll try to be more specific:
* The top links frequently link to content unrelated to what I'm looking for (Jasmine tea rather than the Jasmine testing framework e.g.). How google does this I don't know but rarely do they get it wrong in the same way
* It frequently takes more time/clicks for me to find what I'm looking for searching on a generic DDG search than google. (of course bang searches mean I'm only sometimes using generic/plain search on DDG.)
* The results on google are frequently just better. This is to say even if I find something that sort of answers my question on the list on DDG, there will be a better answer, higher, on google.
Basically, if you are searching the name of a company or something unmistakably clear, ddg performs just as well as google, but when you get into longer queries on more obscure subjects, the gap in performance between ddg & ggl widens really fast.
Is it clear what's meant by DDG results sucking? I don't think that's the nicest way to put it but as a long time DDG user I won't dispute the assertion.