Does a Mac Private Window act as a VPN?

SSL-ADT wrote:

In order to check the competition, Yoast SEO recommends a VPN to mask your location when searching on Google for keywords utilized in your industry.

<This is all quite easy to determine using just the Google search results. But be wary! You can’t just trust the search results, because Google tailors them to your search history. So logically, your site is going to come up higher for you than for others.

You can use an incognito screen to circumvent this, (although there’s still a local search component even in an incognito screen). If that is a problem for you, you should consider using VPNs to mask your location.>

<If you are worried about "trust", don't use a third party VPN. The VPN provider has access to your data and web activity and can use that for any purpose such as selling or sharing it.>

SSL-ADT wrote:

I decided to turn off Mac Location Services for Firefox only, a browser I love to hate and only use it when Safari gives me grief.

That way, I presume, I could Google search without Google knowing my location. <cross fingers>

I never installed a VPN —

Public VPN's are anything but private

https://gist.github.com/joepie91/5a9909939e6ce7d09e29

On general principle I do not log into any google account unless needed.

you can look at options

Hide IP Address selected in Privacy tab of Safari Preferences.

How to hide IP address in Safari

iCloud Private Relay is an internet privacy service that lets you connect to virtually any network and browse with Safari in an even more secure and private way.

Use iCloud Private Relay on Mac

SSL-ADT wrote:

In currently implementing SEO on my website. I'm told that in order to check the competition on Google Search, I need to have a VPN so that Google doesn't take into account my location.

What do you guys suggest? Is it recommended to use a VPN on a MacBook Pro? If so, which one to choose?

Thanks!

-Ron

Do not in stall a VPN unless you are creating a secure point-to-point tunnel to your workplace or other organization. Why would you want to hide your location or insecurely give your data to a public VPN?

SSL-ADT wrote:

In currently implementing SEO on my website. I'm told that in order to check the competition on Google Search, I need to have a VPN so that Google doesn't take into account my location.

What do you guys suggest? Is it recommended to use a VPN on a MacBook Pro? If so, which one to choose?

Thanks!

-Ron

never heard this as a game plan when doing SEO...? Where did you read this (?)

https://help.apple.com/safari/mac/8.0/en.lproj/ibrw1069.html

you can read more—

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide