Can DuckDuckGo replace Google search while offering better privacy?

So is DuckDuckGo no good? Surprised you did not mention it. Following last week's article about privacy and surveillance capitalism, several readers wrote in about the absence of DuckDuckGo, and it was mentioned a dozen times in the comments. I have suggested this privacy-oriented search engine a few times since 2012, and I think it's worth a go. However, I'm answering Murray's earlier query along the same lines because I can use his email verbatim rather than cobbling together a joint question from multiple sources.