But is Cliqz a search engine, or is it a web browser with a search bar set to a default search engine (or a Firefox extension that accomplishes the same thing).

Cliqz bought Ghostery to acquire a pool of privacy-conscious users. The goal is to show them ads. Not sure how excited they will be about that.

If Cliqz really is a search engine, can a user submit a query to the database using her own choice of tcp/http client. It looks like submitting requires first downloading and installing software from Cliqz.