Last updated Jan 18, 2024 at 2pm ET
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Are you worried about how much data you give away when you surf the web? If you rely on search engines like Google, that fear is entirely reasonable.
The world’s biggest search engine has a terrible record when it comes to protecting user privacy. It routinely builds detailed, personalized profiles of the sites users visit, the search terms they use, and even where they go on Google Maps. And this data is then sold on to advertisers without users providing any kind of consent.
At the same time, Google is happy to open up Gmail accounts so app developers can spy on users, has a suspiciously close relationship with governments of all types, and has a chequered record on data leaks. So finding an alternative is a rational course of action.
Gibiru is one Google alternative that people are talking about, and it could be the answer you are looking for. But wait just a second. Before you switch to Gibiru, reviews like this should help assess its strengths and weaknesses. So let’s get stuck in.
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What is Gibiru?
The first thing to understand about Gibiru search is that it qualifies as a “private search engine.” This style of search tool has become much more popular in recent years as Google’s sins have accumulated. The idea behind most of them is to offer ways to search the web without giving away personal data (or at least having the chance to consent to any data usage).
The Gibiru search engine bills itself as “uncensored anonymous search”. Why do these terms matter?
Firstly, Google has been accused of favoring sites associated with major clients, as well as politically sensitive sites. For example, in 2018 it dramatically limited access to sites relating to cryptocurrency, as scrutiny of the crypto-market grew.
Secondly, mainstream searches are hardly ever anonymous. When users make searches, they deposit traces of their identity in the form of IP addresses and DNS lookups. Search engines may also inject cookies to track their activity. This lets them build up detailed profiles of their interests.
What features make Gibiru different?
The Gibiru search engine appears to be very similar to Google – at least from the front end. But the interface conceals some key features which might make Gibiru safe to use and much more anonymous:
- When users search for terms using Gibiru search, the content of their searches is not logged or linked to an IP address. So there’s no scope for profiling individual web users.
- Hence, Gibiru doesn’t sell any information to third parties at all. They aren’t in the data selling game.
- Importantly, Gibiru seeks to couple their search engine with their own Virtual Private Network (VPN). This allows users to search completely anonymously, using IP addresses supplied by the VPN, not their own. This VPN can be installed as an add-on to browsers like Opera and Firefox easily, providing automatic in-browser protection.
- When you submit a Gibiru search, you’ll see “all results” and “uncensored” options. The uncensored option lets you see all results that won’t appear in Google searches – and you may be surprised by how many pages are included.
- This anti-censorship tool extends to current news, giving users an unprecedented ability to search all up to date news sources – not just ones approved by Google.
- HTTPS 256-bit encryption is used to ensure total secrecy.
- Delivers a set of recommended ads at the top of every query, which are generated by the keywords you use.
Gibiru was created in 2009 and has its roots in the hacking community – not big business. It remains a community effort and hasn’t made the transition to seeking external funding. And if you look for alternatives to Gibiru reviews will show that this kind of integrity is quite unusual. So that’s a positive sign.
This management structure means that the product is a little rough around the edges at times. And you’ll need to take care to set it up properly, with the VPN or Proxy installed.
Is Gibiru safe
Before we compare Gibiru search with a key competitor, it’s worth summarizing its key security features:
- Full 256-Bit HTTPS encryption
- No tracking cookies
- No data selling of any kind
- No logs
- Can be combined with a separate VPN/Proxy app to ensure that the websites you visit don’t detect your IP address.
On the other hand, it has to be admitted that the privacy policy is a little on the thin side and that the Gibiru team do state that “due to some code needed for search result API integration and bandwidth/site performance, we may monitor server logs from time to time.”
This isn’t necessarily a disaster from a privacy perspective, but it’s worth bearing in mind. As is the slightly disturbing lack of information about who is behind Gibiru.
A LinkedIn profile lists the founder as Steven Ray Marshall, but that’s all we know. Contact details are sparse, and other individuals aren’t named. That may be understandable for an organization which explicitly seeks to undermine government powers, but it’s a little offputting for ordinary users.
Comparing Gibiru vs DuckDuckGo: is it a genuine competitor?
Gibiru is obviously a creative, well-programmed search tool whose heart seems to be in the right place. But how does it compare with DuckDuckGo, a major alternative for people seeking to migrate from Google? Let’s see.
| Gibiru | DuckDuckGo | |
| Owning company | Steven Ray Marshall (Founder, based in San Jose California) | CEO/founder Gabriel Weinberg with major venture capital funding and associations with Apple and Yahoo. |
| Launch date | 2009 | 2008 |
| Number of pages indexed | 30 trillion+ (Google plus “censored pages”) | 120 million domains (2011) |
| Number of daily queries | unknown (far fewer than DuckDuckGo) | 25 million |
| Advertising | Yes | Yes, but optional |
| Security features | 256-bit HTTPs encryption, no logging of any kind, no cookies, no data selling, option to add proxy/VPN, no ad tracking, strong commitment to privacy | TOR supported, no IP logging or cookies, no targeted advertising, and no user profiles. |
Hmm. Interesting discussion.
I can say from just using it for a while. Gibiru does give different results from Google, DDG, Bing. Often if I’m looking for something on any of the major SEs if I can’t find it, Gibiru will.
Downside to it? Lots of reasons but mostly just poor interface / filtering.
Seems this company just went public through the ticker MONI?
So for those of us not In the biz; who want uncensored search without corporate tracking; what’s the BEST alternative to the mozilla/gibiru/ Cyberghost combo I’m currently using??
Also a recommended email?
Truth and freedom for all!!!
Jim
On Firefox I’ve started using Gibiru only a month ago leaving DuckDuck_a_NoGo behind, and only last week I also installed the add-on “Privacy Badger” blocking trackers. What I discovered was that while blocking the google.com tracker when searching on Gibiru nothing works! That makes me wonder if Gibiru simply has become a masking layer on top of Google?
I’ve noticed my Giburu search results open tabs that at first say “Google” so whatever is occurring, Google is getting called with each selected result. I don’t think I can keep Giburu.
Gibiru seems to have stopped working. It refuses to display search results until an annoying ‘I am not a robot’ captcha is solved. I’ve been using gibiru for a while but it’s time to say goodbye to a search engine that does something this halfwitted!
Hi, Nate. Were you using a VPN when the captchas started appearing? It’s a common issue with online services asking for verification if many users are connecting from one IP address.
I just tried this, and my TOR Browser kept connecting to Google servers. DIRECTLY. WTF is the point of that? If I wasn’t using TOR I’d have my IP profiled with my search. What is to stop Google doing so? Even when there are laws, they plead ignorance whilst breaking the law, anyway. Whattya gonna do, sue them, or fine them? No point. Right? No fear for Google. That is scary.
The Search Engine is secondary to the search algorithms available to it. For example, DuckDuckGo is experiencing tremendous censorship because it’s primary algorithm is Microsoft’s Bing. DuckDuckGo is being promoted as the answer to cancerous Chrome and the rest – but it is not.
What is the point of having a “private Search Engine” if all it can produce is the same Google/MS/Mozilla censored search results?
Mozilla-Firefox just got a $450 million hail mary play from Google. The Google taint over there just became a Google stink thanks to sell out careerist CEO Mitchell Baker. Ixquick/StartPage = Google contract for censored results. TOR = DuckDuckGo and nothing else is possible, so oh so famous TOR is positioned to fully censor search results.
For this thread, I was on the Mozlla-Google controlled Brave browser support forum. I mentioned this issue of “private” SE’s being part of the search censorship issue and that I was using Giburu. One of the forum monitors checked it out and found out that Giburu runs ALL of it’s searches through Google. That is where Giburu’s funding comes from.
Being based in a faux country (Ladonia) certainly isn’t getting them cash… but now we know. Every search through oh so private Giburu is going to be tracked by Google.
A-greed. (As opposed to “THE-Greed” – which drives this whole spying game. Knowledge is power. Think of certain demographics who obsess about power more than others, perhaps? Unless that’s us all if we’re not careful…
Startpage brings up the blocked page for certain searches but not other searches – from the SAME EXACT CLIENT IP (over TOR, that means same exit node IP, not cycling it between searches). I have a video somewhere of this happening. That is Startpage CENSORING users. This isn’t Google. It is Startpage’s CHOICE, and they must have a blacklist of search terms, thus be spying in some way on users, which could be intercepted and logged at Startpage’s servers, potentially – right? Not saying they are interested in logging, but they LIE (by omitting the subject and facts from their site documentation) ABOUT CENSORING SEARCH RESULTS.
Why? Did the NSA say the Dutch Government won’t get those F16 parts at a good price if Startpage don’t play roll over and beg?
The problem with DuckDuckGo is that it relies on Google for it’s content. And yes, Google will never serve up content of which it disapproves. Gibiru spiders the web for itself. It has its own database of content, which DuckDuckGo does not. The downside with Giburu is the UI sucks. This tends to make it unfriendly and unintuitive ton use.
I’m not sure how they determine what results are considered “censored”. Certainly, when searching for vaccination related queries, I found the same articles on Google too. It seems to me that in order for Gibaru to build this successfully, they would have to screen scrape Google results, which is very difficult to do, since Google go out of their way to block screen scrapers.
Gibiru uses Google in some way. Just inspect the source code and you will find a reference to Google many times.
Many search engines claim privacy, but Gibiru is the only non-deep web search engine I have found that claims to be uncensored. I tried several searches and the results are completely censored, no different from any other ordinary search engines. All msm and institution results. The only non-deep web search engine I have found that is less censored is Yandex, I received many result sources that do not come up on other search engines. Yandex is Russia’s primary search engine, but it has no privacy aspect at all. The only other option is the ‘deep web’/onion sites, etc. Kevin Thompson has blogged that the deep web as it is available to us is not real, it is surveiled, and maybe even set up for that purpose, and that if there is a real deep web (there must be), it is available only to classified military/govt/corporate people.
Try searching for http://www.frankspeech.com and Gibiru brings it up but both google & duck duck go censor it and even try to fool you with a similar fake site to keep you from the content. Whether you agree with a site or not we must all be against censorship because even though you may have similar opinions with those who control it now, one day whoever the sensor masters are could use the same power to turn on an issue or cause you might believe in or at least want knowledge for. We do not need super wealthy babysitters to decide what we should see and hear based on their current politically correct agendas.
I like gibiru for the simple fact that I was able to find historical content (long gone when using google). This wouldn’t even be part of the “censored pages” indexing as indicated in the above description
I love Giburu. I have been using it for weeks with great results and much faster than google because uncensored so you can find the info you want. However today I went on it and a 403 forbidden code came up. So I tried to access from google chrome and same thing happened. Can’t even contact support. Maybe a glitch. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening
Hi Melanie,
It’s a bit difficult to say what the issue may be exactly. The 403 error code indicates that the server is receiving your request but denying you access – something that can happen due to a number of reasons, not many of which you can do anything about. It may be, for example, that your public IP has been blacklisted by Gibiru for some reason, in which case contacting the site/your ISP are the surest ways to go about fixing the issue. Try to clear your browser cache as well (shouldn’t be the issue if you tried using different browsers).
Giburu is not safe from google. It still spies on you: When I wanted to leave a comment the only ways to sign up were either facebook or google. NO email alternative. If that isnt an obvious sign I don’t know what is
BINGO ! and all sites do that lately. BAM! quara, you try to see a book review, it doesn’t matter, something pops up saying why don’t you sign in with facehook or now give use your email please.
Why do I need to sign in if my system is already siphoned for info as soon as you touch the page?
Anyone favor one VPN over the others when using Gibiru?
Hmm… Why didn’t I know about this Gibiru search engine? I guess it takes some time to find the good things, no? I really like this search engine. It’s faster than Google, doesn’t track your every move and the advertising is not that bothersome.
Gibiru isn’t a search engine, it is just someone who set up a website using google search to get paid some adsense revenue. Very misleading article. When you search on their site, you are “literally” searching on google
This is false. You just haven’t tested it enough. There are tons of blacklisted terms on Google that return results on Gibiru. Gibiru will return results similar to Yandex or Google.co.jp in these cases. Not really sure why the Japanese Google isn’t censored, but it isn’t. Only the US and European Google’s are.
I was suspicious of giburu right away, when trying to comment on something I had the option of signing in with google or facebook. Not with email.
Am just wondering why I didn’t know about the great search engines earlier on. For sure Gibiru is 10 times faster than google and provides reliable search results without all the tracking that Google does. For me, it’s the best alternative to Google.
Gibiru has a new mobile App …it bypasses browsers so there is no cache or record of any kind in…they call it the wormhole…I downloaded on iphone from the App store.