i use it by default too (i guess it's largely cosmetic, but since something now displays quickly it doesn't feel so slow, even though the results still lag a little), but for non-trivial searches i regularly use !google because it simply returns better results. i don't see how they can fix that (they delegate to bing?) but i wish they could. it's just depressing how much better google results can be when the answer "isn't obvious".

sorry, i guess this reads really negative. it's not my intent - as i said i use it. i just wish it could be better.

The !bang syntax is for pass-through search (http://duckduckgo.com/bang.html). So, why even bother going to DDG and not simply using address bar search shortcuts?

Why would I do 'ddg !g "my" "search" "terms"' as opposed to 'g "my" "search" "terms"'??

Or is this using ddg as start page for your browser, or ...

Just curious.

For me, there are a couple of benefits of having the functionality built into my search engine rather than my browser.

First, all I have to do is set up DDG as the default search engine in my browser, and then I get tons of search shortcuts working without any more effort on my part. I don't have to worry about syncing between different computers, browsers (I use Chrome and Firefox at different times), and operating systems.

Second, there are many more shortcuts than I'd ever think to maintain myself, and somebody else has already put the work into defining them. I can do !{relatively popular site} and even if I'm guessing, it almost always works. (In fact, I can't remember the last time it didn't.)

So, if there was an addon that bundled all these !bang pass throughs as search keywords and worked cross browser would you still use ddg for this?

I'm going to guess "yes" but perhaps for others it would be no?

I'm not saying this just to be argumentative (honest!). Just that when I tried DDG as my search provider before (which was a while back now) I found that !bang looked like a great idea but just made searches slower for me. But then I've got quite a few years of established search keywords.

The bangs are especially good for dodging the really heavy homepages of some sites. For example, !bgg.

samdk has answered for me.

What advantage do bangs have over Chrome's ability to detect and add search engines to the Omnibox?

They exist for sites you've never been to before, you don't have to do anything to a fresh browser install to make them work, they are browser-indepenent (I don't use or like chrome personally), and you can use them on any computer at any time. I know they are always helpful for me when using public computers.

I wholeheartedly agree. However, I think DDG is even better on the smartphone.

I have it set there as my default search engine, and within the browser and without having to type too much (and frankly, the less I have to type on it the better) I get access to a vast amount of sites.

Since I'm using Chromium, I could probably do without the !bang-syntax on the desktop, but being able to consistantly use the same syntax on both mobile and desktop is lovely and a definitive advantage for me.

That, and the no-tracking-policy is a big bonus as well, I suppose.