Want to use DuckDuckGo but missing relevant search results? Here's how to search Google, Wikipedia, and more with just two additional keystrokes.
DuckDuckGo users might be concerned about missing the best results when using its search engine, but there is a way to search Google, Wikipedia, and more directly from the DuckDuckGo search box. While there might be plenty of interest in trying an alternative internet search engine like DuckDuckGo, leaving behind an old favorite like Google can be tricky. To make the change easier, DuckDuckGo has a way to take the risk out of trying its search engine.
The dominance of Google makes it difficult for competitors like DuckDuckGo to win over new users. Perhaps this challenge is what inspired DuckDuckGo to make it super-easy to try its search engine while keeping Google and other search engines just two keystrokes away. In the DuckDuckGo search box, adding !g to the end of any search directs that query to Google's search engine. Adding !w finds matching results on Wikipedia. Known as a 'Bang' or 'Bang Search', adding a space and a shortcut letter, or a word in some cases makes it easy for the user to search a huge number of other websites, over 13,000 currently.
Notable examples include searching for Amazon products by appending !a, searching The Free Dictionary by adding !d, or searching Thesaurus.com by adding !t. It's quite convenient and surprising how quickly the shortcuts become second nature after using them for a little while. Many of DuckDuckGo's over 13,000 Bang Search shortcuts have more than one letter, although the single letter Bangs are typically the most popular or most useful.
The Yelp, eBay, Twitter, Reddit, and Steam websites can be searched from DuckDuckGo by adding an exclamation point followed by the website name. For example, a search that ends with !ebay will return an eBay results page just as if the search was performed from that website. DuckDuckGo's hybrid internet search system with easy access to other websites via Bangs provides a risk-free way to try it, while keeping Google and more just a few keystrokes away.
Source: DuckDuckGo
