Yes, definitely! Not sure if this has been mentioned in these 11 pages somewhere, but there's one thing to consider: Startpage allows configuration of its behaviour through a config form. E.g. not opening clicked results in a new tab by default. Or showing 20 instead of 10 results per page for less clicking and waiting. The settings can be stored in a cookie (that regularly expires on its own, making it useless; at least last time I tried; and Startpage support couldn't change it), or you can generate a token that must be included in the search string (this is a permanent, portable and privacy-friendly option). It's really ugly to install Startpage as a configured search engine in Firefox, involving lots of manual steps and a Firefox add-on that requires more manual steps. This should be properly integrated, but with the full configuration capabilities, please!
On behalf of the Startpage team, we fully support adding Startpage to Firefox’s default search engine list. This change would make it easier for users to search privately while accessing relevant, globally-reaching results.
Many of our Firefox users frequently request an easier way to set Startpage as their default search engine via our support channels. We shared the idea link with them to help amplify their requests.
Currently, setting Startpage as the default requires multiple steps, often involving extensions or manual adjustments—a common frustration for privacy-conscious users.
By adding Startpage as a default option, Firefox would make private searching effortless, with no tracking and quick access to relevant results.
Thank you for considering this valuable improvement!
Yes, I would appreciate that! One of the first things I do on a fresh install of Firefox is to add Startpage own extension, or to set up the url rule for default searching (on mobile).
Having Startpage as default would be much more handy and straightforward.
Yes, I'd like too see Startpage as default startpage in Firefox too.
As negative side effect there is to say, that Startpage often has errors when performing the search - then the user get redirected to the homepage and you have to re-enter your search terms because the chronic didn't catched anything.
But all in all if the rumors are true and Startpage is really the google results but behind a proxy firewall, then the data privacy should be worth the effort and outstand this slight negative impact.
Firefox own cookie and ad protection does only work for some persistent cross-site tracking, but if it uses Google as default search machine, the users data will be cached and reported to Google Inc.