this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
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Privacy

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.bestiver.se/post/410276

Mullvad Leta

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[–] x00z@lemmy.world 40 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Just a shell around Brave and Google.

[–] waddle_dee@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

Which grows more useless everyday, arguably. I reckon I'll still stick with Kagi.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

What does it have to do with Brave?

[–] Rose@lemmy.zip 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Isn't it obvious from its front page? It lets you choose between the Brave and the Google search engines.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 2 points 5 days ago

Oh I didn't even realize Brave had a search engine. Last time I used Leta it didn't say anything about that.

[–] mynamesnotrick@lemmy.zip 26 points 5 days ago

While I am a very happy mullvad VPN user this offering doesn't seem very comparable to say a searxng instance especially a self hosted one.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 5 days ago

Did a test search: "movie where charlize is homeless"

An interview about Monster was second. Wikipedia articles about her and her filmography were shortly after. Top his was top ten movies about homelessness. Imdb page for Monster wasn't on the first page.

Google, Kagi, and DDG all had it at the top. I think this one needs time to mature.

[–] Zoma@sh.itjust.works 12 points 5 days ago

Love Mullvad and all their work but this one aint it, Im sticking with searxng.

[–] chemicalwonka@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Using Leta with Mullvad VPN might be like putting all your eggs in one basket

[–] ZeroHora@lemmy.ml 17 points 5 days ago

From their FAQ

What is the point of Leta?

Leta aims to present a reliable and trustworthy way of searching privately on the internet.

However, Leta is useless as a service if you use the perfect non-logging VPN, a privacy focussed DNS service, a web browser that resists fingerprinting, and correlation attacks from global actors. Leta is also useless if your browser blocks all cookies, tracking pixels and other tracking technologies.

For most people Leta can be useful, as the above conditions cannot ever truly be met by systems that are available today.

If you use their VPN and their browser or any firefox properly configured there is no reason to use Leta.

[–] trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Not really. IMO, the determining factor for this is how "sticky" a given service is.

Leta is a public search engine that you don't have to pay for their VPN to use, and switching search engines is quite trivial, making this a very easy switch in the event that either service is unsatisfactory.

That said, I have no idea why anyone would want Google search results in 2025 because their search engine is terrible, but more power to anyone that does.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 5 days ago

The only thing that they are still undisputed kings of, is checking the hours of stores near me. That maps data is hard to beat.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The only other option is bing 🤡 which is now marginally better

[–] Jramskov@feddit.dk 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I thought kagi an aggregator relying on google and Microsoft

[–] Jramskov@feddit.dk 1 points 5 days ago

They are relying on those and more. The difference is you actually get the results you wanted, not ads or paid search placements.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 11 points 5 days ago

Not sure why, but my search results have been even worse than with duckduckgo

[–] zdhzm2pgp@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 days ago

Needs to have tabs for images, video, etc.

[–] b34n5@hexbear.net 3 points 5 days ago

I'm going to try Mullvad Leta as my main search engine for a few weeks to see how it works. Thanks for the suggestion — I had no idea it even existed. BTW, even though I use NordVPN, I love Mullvad VPN for the privacy it offers to the users. In a couple of months, when my Nord subscription ends, I'll switch to Mullvad.

[–] iortega@lemmy.eus 1 points 5 days ago

How is it so fast?