IxQuick, which bills itself as “the world’s most private search engine,” has changed its name to the much-easier-to-remember Startpage.

Startpage is a meta search engine that’s tried to differentiate itself from the pack by using privacy as a marketing feature. In 2006, shortly before the mistaken release of three months of AOL search data, the service announced that it would purge its users personal data within 48 hours. This past January, IxQuick stopped recording IP addresses completely and began offering secure searching via the https protocol.

But judging by the general lack of awareness about IxQuick/Startpage, the focus on privacy hasn’t resonated yet with the general search population. Meanwhile, the big three search engines currently hold on to user data for three months (Yahoo), nine months (Google), and 18 months (Microsoft/Bing).

Related Topics: Legal: Privacy | Search Engines: IxQuick & Startpage

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land's Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee