Six search engines worth trying now that Google isn’t really Google anymore

Google is overhauling Search with a conversational AI-first approach, prompting many users to seek alternatives. Six options are covered: Kagi (paid, ad-free, customizable with optional AI), DuckDuckGo (free, privacy-focused, AI opt-out available), Startpage (Google proxy that strips personal data), &udm=14 (appends a parameter to strip AI overviews from Google results), Brave (Chromium-based browser and search with customizable 'Goggles'), and Ecosia (ad-supported, donates ~80% of revenue to tree-planting). Each offers varying degrees of privacy, AI control, and customization as alternatives to the increasingly AI-driven Google Search.