This, searching tech related topics, world news etc. works well enough but when I try to search for (not english) local content the top 10 results often aren't even specific to my country.
It seems to be just lumping results together by language without putting enough weight on location.
Funny thing is, I have just the opposite issue with google.
While traveling, it constantly tries to force me to use the local version even if I don't want to (redirecting from google.com etc.) which puts more weight on local results.
Out of curiosity, do you tell ddg which country to search in? (there is an option somewhere inside the hamburger menu)
I don't think they use IPs to geolocate, so I find myself using yelp (or sometimes tripadvisor/citysearch) for local results.
Maybe a geolocating custom search / instant answer box (that can be opt-in/out) would help. It is one step down the slippery slope of search bubbling/tracking, but maybe that isn't the end of the world -- it could be done by town or something.
Yes, I had my location set all this time but now that you asked I took a second look and realised that is not enough.
While my countries flag was displayed next to the search bar it was set to "All results" in the menu, so I have to explicitly enable the region filter by flipping the switch next to it.
It seems to be just lumping results together by language without putting enough weight on location.
Funny thing is, I have just the opposite issue with google. While traveling, it constantly tries to force me to use the local version even if I don't want to (redirecting from google.com etc.) which puts more weight on local results.