I looked at the Startpage site, but it indicates that it is associated with Google, also. We’re you indicating that Startpage was better to use than Google?
Yes. Startpage is like a search proxie. It searches google for you so your ip and other personal information isn’t collected by google. Instead all google will see is startpage searching for stuff, not you. So you get the full power of a google search without the privacy problems.
They are not affliated with Google. My understanding of it is that Startpage uses the Google search engine through a separate server (not tied in to google) then forwards the search results to you. Your IP information and other identifiers are not recorded by Startpage and Google only has the anonymous search info from Startpage. Hope that makes sense. More info on the Startpage home page links.