I’ve been using DDG for at least a year. I find it meets nearly all my needs just as good as Google, save one. When I need images for a computer graphics project, Google has a much better selection. That’s it. Otherwise, I use DDG. My cell phone is very Google based and I can’t seem to put DDG on it. I am sort of forced to use Chrome on it, if I want the internet. I only use the internet on my phone when out shopping and I want to check prices at other stores, or find if a certain store is in the area I happen to be at. So at least it’s minimal.
Yep, I agree with you re. image variety and quantity advantage google has.