In mid-June 2019, nicoljiang released the DogeDoge search engine ( dogedoge.com ) on V2EX. The search engine focuses on privacy and does not mislead users (presumably meaning it does not use paid ranking advertisements). The author also explicitly stated that this is a search engine to replace Baidu.
Nearly a month later, DogeDoge’s search volume reached 1 million. However, the author wanted the website to be accessible without a VPN, so they chose to register the website. Also, because the handling of sensitive content was more challenging than expected, the development of new features was suspended.
On September 23, 2019, the author used the Chinese name “Duo Ji Search” to refer to the search engine, possibly because they planned to establish a company and discuss financing with individuals and institutions. They also stated that Duo Ji could not be ad-free, but they hoped to display advertisements that were less misleading and could still meet revenue needs.
However, on November 26, 2020, the website became inaccessible. The author stated, “Technical upgrade in progress, recovery time to be determined…” and added, “Actively cracking down on illegal and false information.”. The postscript hinted at the reason for the upgrade, which was due to sensitive content on the website, indicating that they had encountered an irresistible force.
Seven days later, on December 3, 2020, the website resumed operation. However, on March 25, 2021, the website was permanently shut down. Although the author is still active in the V2EX forum, they no longer respond to or mention the topic of the DogeDoge search engine.
Postscript: I have never used the DogeDoge search engine and only learned about it after the website was shut down. I originally wanted to record it as soon as possible, but the tabs with relevant information kept piling up, so I left it for five years…