[cmars232]

I use them, but I don't trust them. They've got my email and feedreader (for now), but not much of my search.

I hate instant search, and I don't want to authenticate myself to them just to turn it off. My browser is forgetful of cookies, and I shut it down regularly to get shit done.

DuckDuckGo is a refreshing alternative and Google now gets but a meager fraction of my search, where they used to be almost exclusive. I'll check DDG first, then elsewhere if I'm disappointed. Subjectively, DDG result relevance seems to be improving lately.

I also block Google's Javascript analytics and ads, as I do all other third parties. As a user how can I trust let alone know what all these ad networks and doohickies in a page really are? If you want to advertise or analyze on your site, fine, back it up by serving it out of your own domain if it matters that much to your bottom line.