I also do this, but that's because I work at Google and got tired of explaining to coworkers why I don't usually like the results from our search engine! Also, "I duckduckgoed that" doesn't roll off of the tongue very well.
Coming to think of it, I too explain my searches on DuckDuckGo to colleagues as a "Google". Irrespective of the underlying reason, this gives merit to the plaintiffs' claim.
I'm surprised you'd not get culturally ousted for that? I know nothing about Google's internal culture, but I'd assume everyone would be against using someone else's product.
> I know nothing about Google's internal culture, but I'd assume everyone would be against using someone else's product.
Your expectations make it sound like you've only worked at companies with terribly unhealthy workplace cultures. When I joined Google, I remember noticing that probably 50%+ of my coworkers used iPhones. That changed with all the free phones they gave out, but any place that would "culturally oust" you for not drinking the Kool-Aid sounds like a nightmare to work at.
Google (as I've experienced it) is filled with normal, generally friendly folks. A few small jokes, but no cultural ousting. While I don't work in search (big company, many products), even the folks I know there recognize we need different tools for our job and sometimes Google search just isn't the way to go. I suspect if it were a more specialized company (say Tableau) then using a another company's tool for daily work might be frowned upon.
I guess I like to advertise that I specifically use DuckDuckGo when I'm searching, so I purposefully say "I DuckDuckGo'd it" but it sounds terribly awkward :/
