Re: Why DDG?
I'd think people don't want to change, because the benefits are unclear and fighting against ever-occurring default search engines can be tiresome. The name isn't helping, it doesn't sound natural in speech and thus feels like an off-brand product.
Part if it may also be about patterns - if Google has already personalized profile about you and your interests, results from other engines probably feel a bit "off". I you're not aware of the effect, it can be offputting. And vice versa, sure.
What I myself like the most in DDG is bangs, and they help me in my work tremendously. E.g. as a software developer, just typing '!cpp std::conditional_variable' for C++ class will search the somewhat authoritative cppreference.com for that class documentation. '!w <something>' searches Wikipedia etc.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
