[SOLVED] Why is this happening in duckduckgo?

Knightron · 07-13-2012, 07:26 PM

Hello, i use duckduckgo as my primary search engine. Today i've encountered something that seems peculiar. Can someone else verify it's doing it for them too. If i search for something, it'll work like it should.
If i search for this though, i get redirected to another sight; why?

Code:

Fear. ChaCha!

frankbell · 07-13-2012, 08:25 PM

To where are you directed?

I use startpage.com. It gives me a list of results that refer to responses from ChaCha (https://www.chacha.com/) about questions including the word, "Fear."

DuckDuckGo sends me to the ChaCha site when I search with the string you posted. If I leave off the ! at the end, though, it gives me a list of results.

273 · 07-13-2012, 08:32 PM

I think that search is deliberately designed to go to ChaCha, is it something you were told to type by a friend or a SPAM email?

frankbell · 07-13-2012, 08:50 PM

Or possibly the ! has some special meaning to duckduckgo, but looking over their settings doesn't seem to indicate that it does.

I think 273 is on to something. It's a set up.(grin)

DavidMcCann · 07-14-2012, 12:28 PM

The searches "fear chacha" and "fear !chacha" are very different. See:
http://duckduckgo.com/bang.html

frankbell · 07-14-2012, 08:25 PM

Aha! The ! does have a special meaning for duckduckgo. Thanks, DavidMcCann.

Knightron · 07-14-2012, 10:53 PM

Righto, thanks guys. I searched that, because i was trying to find out the title of a movie with only a little bit of info about it and someone else was also trying and asked on yahoo answers and someone said "Fear. ChaCha!" I found out that the movie was called Fear, which features Reese Witherspoon, but she also is in the movie ChaCha, so the person who answered the question must have got confused, i don't know, but thanks any ways for clearing this up with me guys.