Long time DDG user (>10 years) here, and it’s astounding to me that they haven’t prioritized making their own independent index to switch off Bing. I would have expected them to do it like 5 years ago, but there’s afaik no initiative to do so. It’s unfortunate and am now trying other engines like Brave search.
I also occasionally try Brave search when a DDG search fails. Sometimes Brave finds what I want, but I frequently get Captcha (and now proof of work) challenges that are quite annoying. I don't get this with any other search provider (though StartPage would frequently do this a while back). I hope this is just a phase, because I would likely use Brave Search more if not for this issue.
Thanks for confirming, we've just deployed some improvements to better handle VPN traffic and penalize legit users less. I hope this improves your QoL on Brave Search.
