I hope that my query here has a browser-agnostic as well as OS-agnostic solution that maybe someone here will know how to do...
Using this URL as my example:
https://www.google.com/search?q=whatever
I would like it instead somehow to automagically redirect like so:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=whatever
Using google search is something I avoid pretty much all the time - maybe 1 out of 100 searches I do -might- use that, but otherwise it is avoided.
Of course I could do some trickery in the hosts file to prevent the google.com domain altogether (I know that much), but since I still use other google sub-sites that would be a hindrance for me.
Searching on terms like:
prevent "google searches"
redirect "google search"
divert google search
All had an unexpected result IMO=> they all gave results mentioning a "Google redirect virus" - which had me giggling because as I see it google searching itself IS like a virus now that 'googling' & 'google it' are too commonly used.
Sadly they also brought back nothing like what I am seeking.
Also worthy of mention here is that this came to mind after visiting a link on Panzer's superb freewares listing that brought up a site that gives result links as direct google searches, like some other sites do (i.e.:
https://lmgtfy.app/).
So...any pointers, clues or education for me on this strange request ??
Thanks for any helpful replies !!