Alternative search engines

Search Engines You Can Use Instead of Google

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If you’re looking for alternative search engines other than Google, there are plenty of options available. Many designed with people’s privacy in mind and avoid tracking their searches.

Unlike Google, these alternatives do not collect personal data or sell it to advertisers. Furthermore, they don’t track your browsing history either.

Google may be the undisputed king of search, but it doesn’t always provide the most useful outcomes. That’s why many users are turning to more private alternative search engines for their queries.

One reason is privacy; Google collects user data and shares it with advertisers. But there are other factors as well, like social causes or format-specific results.

Google is the go-to search engine for many people, but it may not always be the best option for businesses looking to enhance their visibility online and convert more visitors.

More and more users are turning to alternative search engines that prioritize privacy and avoid tracking their searches. Here are some of the bests.

Bing

Microsoft-owned Bing boasts an impressive user engagement rate and a rapidly expanding international search audience. As such, it has become the go-to search engine for many Microsoft users as well as an ideal choice for digital marketers looking to increase organic traffic.

Bing’s decision engine prioritizes relevant context over text and content on a search page. For instance, if you’re searching for a celebrity, the software company will pull their biographical information and social media profiles from other websites into its results pages to help you locate what you need quickly.

The engine’s decision engine also ranks results based on relevance, quality, credibility, user engagement and freshness. While its exact algorithm remains unknown, it said to updated regularly.

Yandex

Yandex is a Russian search engine that offers various features. Its search engines can access on desktop and mobile devices alike, along with news aggregators, weather apps and wallets.

Yandex also uses a variety of indicators to gauge a site’s popularity. These include its domain name, address and region assigned when registering on their directory.

Yandex takes into account the quality of links pointing to a site, unlike Google which only looks at numbers. It penalizes websites using spammy tactics or having an excessive number of links from low-quality sources.

CC Search is a search engine that assists you in discovering copyright-free content to use for your projects. It draws results from platforms like Flickr and Soundcloud and only displays results labeled under a Creative Commons license.

It also allows users to quickly attribute the owner of a piece of content with one-click copy and paste. Furthermore, it’s socially interactive, enabling you to create lists, tag content, and save favorites for later.

When using a Creative Commons image or music track, it is essential to give credit to the creator. Utilizing search engines with user-friendly filters and attribution options can save time while guaranteeing you don’t infringe upon copyright laws.

Creative Commons recently launched CC Search, a search engine that indexes 300 million images from 19 collections. This makes it an ideal option for anyone searching for copyright-free content. Compared to Google, however, CC Search utilizes open APIs in order to search multiple repositories of Creative Commons content.

Swisscows

Swisscows is a private search engine based in Switzerland that promises to protect your privacy by never storing data. As such, it has designed as a family-friendly search engine, filtering out violent content and pornography.

Semantic data recognition powers this engine, promising faster answers than other search engines. Furthermore, it does not store users’ personal information – something which raises serious privacy issues for parents and young people alike.

Swisscows launched as a project of Hulbee AG, an IT services provider headquartered in Egnach, Switzerland. Its servers are situated underground beneath the Swiss Alps and geographically outside EU and US jurisdictions.

Its primary selling point is its family-friendly filters, making it suitable for children and teens. They filter out adult content including pornography while also guaranteeing explicit results excluded.

This search engine can download for free on both desktop and mobile devices, making it a great option for those seeking an alternative to Google or DuckDuckGo.

DuckDuckGo

If you’re searching for a search engine that respects your privacy, DuckDuckGo is an ideal option. This alternative to Google doesn’t track or store any of your searches and won’t sell or distribute your information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Though not the only search engine that values privacy, it’s one of the most popular. It works across various platforms and browsers such as Android, iPhone, and Firefox.

DuckDuckGo offers many advantages, too. For instance, it provides instant answers from over 100 sources and lets you use shortcuts to quickly access a website without having to visit it directly.

DuckDuckGo utilizes the Tor network to keep browsing anonymous, which is especially important for those with sensitive data. Its browser also blocks trackers from other search engines, Facebook and other tech giants. Furthermore, DuckDuckGo’s search results don’t require sites to alter content in order to get more “relevant” page results.

StartPage

Startpage is an alternative search engine headquartered in the Netherlands that founded in 2006. It provides several privacy features and upholds European Privacy Law to protect users.

Unlike many other search engines, it does not store logs or utilize tracking cookies. Furthermore, it does not collect personal data and has never received any government requests for user information throughout its lifetime.

Startpage offers a free service, but you must accept some ads if you want to see relevant results. Advertisers pay Startpage to display their ads and want to know who is likely to click on them.

Search Encrypt

If you’re searching for a search engine that places more emphasis on privacy than Google, there are plenty of alternatives. Many are ad-free and some even donate part of the profits from search results to charity.

One alternative is Search Encrypt, which promises to make your searches more secure and prevents you from seeing the same ads repeatedly.

Though its claims sound good on paper, there’s more to this search engine than meets the eye: It is actually a browser hijacker that can infect your computer and alter settings without your consent.

This malicious search engine intercepts web searches and encrypts them before sending them to its own servers. As a result, it displays an abundance of misleading advertisements, phishing materials, and even malware.

Gibiru

Gibiru is a search engine designed with those in mind who are concerned about censorship and privacy. It operates outside the ‘Big Tech censorship bubble’, providing users with information without selling their data to third parties.

The company dedicated to not storing user data or tracking their activity. It does not log IP addresses and uses a 256-bit AES encrypted connection for security.

However, the search results generated using a modified Google algorithm. This gives you a faster, more efficient search experience without all the tracking that Google does.

Another special feature is its ‘Search Encrypt’ option, which utilizes encryption methods to mask search terms locally before sending them off to servers. This high-grade forward secrecy ensures that any words, phrases or terms entered into the search bar will eventually expire and cannot viewed again.

Privacy is of utmost importance, yet the founder of Gibiru appears to be unreachable by the public. He does have a LinkedIn profile but no other contact information provided.

OneSearch

OneSearch is the library’s primary search tool and offers straightforward one-stop searching for print and electronic books, articles, videos, digital media files and more. Additionally, you can narrow your search down to streaming media or course reserves, locate a specific article, journal or book by using Citation Lookup information or do advanced searches to uncover more resources from specific databases.

When using OneSearch, be sure to enter your keywords precisely. Doing so can save a lot of time and lead you to sources you might otherwise overlook.

When researching a topic, try to steer clear of words like “of” and “the.” Instead, divide your topic into concepts like theme, population, place, substance, life form etc., rather than using terms like “of” and “the.”

You can customize your results by selecting up to five disciplines when signing in, saving favorite records and search queries as well as setting alerts and RSS feeds to stay abreast of new items.

Another useful feature is the Browse tool, which enables you to search by Author, Title, Subject, Series Title, Call Number – LC or SuDoc. These options can be useful when you already have an idea of what you need but need to narrow your search quickly.

Wiki.com

Wikis are web pages that anyone can edit. They organize information and make it more accessible for people. Furthermore, Wikis can be an excellent tool for sharing documentation between employees.

In addition to offering users an intuitive search bar, wiki provides robust search features so they can quickly locate content. This saves time and boosts productivity in your office.

Another advantage of wikis is that they enable people to keep track of changes. This prevents misunderstandings and editing wars.

Authors can monitor contributions for accuracy and stay informed about changes as they happen, ensuring the content remains reliable and useful to everyone.

Some Wiki services enable page grouping using tags, which are short snippets of text. While this offers more flexibility than hierarchically grouping pages, it may also prove more challenging to maintain.

Boardreader

Boardreader is a search engine designed to monitor online discussion boards. Businesses can use this to keep tabs on what people are saying about their products, services, and rivals.

This can be extremely useful in recognizing unhappy customers, potential evangelists and any other gaps or shortcomings that require attention. Furthermore, this data can utilized to generate content to share on your website and social media channels.

Boardreader is an easy-to-use search engine that can use for research or product reviews. It boasts features other search engines don’t offer, making it the go-to choose when looking for quick answers to queries.

GiveWater

GiveWater is a non-profit search engine that raises funds for clean water and sanitation charities. Through your clicks, a portion of the money generated goes to our partner organizations providing clean water in developing countries.

This is an ideal option for those seeking to support charity without compromising results. It does not censor content and works with several reputable charities, including Charity: Water.

The great thing about this search engine is its free and open-source nature. Additionally, it’s simple to install on any computer, mobile device or tablet with a browser installed.

Another unique aspect is its mission to transform the world through tree planting. They have already planted 113 million trees and plan on reaching that goal in the future.

Ekoru

Ekoru is a search engine that gives back to the environment with every web search. It donates 60% of its revenue from sponsored links to ocean conservation initiatives such as Operation Posidonia and Big Blue Ocean Cleanup.

Hydroelectricity powers its servers, helping reduce energy consumption and the environmental impact. Furthermore, they utilize air and water cooling, eliminating the need for energy-consuming air conditioning.

Users can add Ekoru as a search engine to their browsers, and the site automatically updates with new information. Furthermore, it offers dark mode which helps protect your eyes from harsh light and makes surfing the internet safer.

Ati Bakush and Alison Lee are the owners of this website; a husband-and-wife team living in Kuala Lumpur with their four children. Both possess backgrounds in software development and marketing, respectively, which they wanted to use for good purposes.

Ekoru prioritized privacy over storage when designing its privacy-first search engine, so it doesn’t store user data on its servers. Instead, it encrypts all users’ search data and does not keep any history of those searches.

Ecosia

Google remains the undisputed king of web searches. Its algorithms tailored to give you results that meet your requirements, using data from users like you to customize those outcomes according to your preferences. But if you’re concerned about data privacy or want to make a positive impact on the environment, consider using another search engine instead.

Ecosia is a not-for-profit search engine that plants trees with the advertising revenue it earns from searches. Similar to Google and Bing, it partners with advertisers to display ads within search results.

It also donates the profits it earns from ads to tree-planting initiatives. Their mission is to combat climate change by reducing emissions and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Ecosia offers its users the tools to make more eco-friendly decisions, displaying a green leaf next to search results from “planet friendly” companies. Furthermore, its founder Christian Metcalf recently unveiled a climate rating system which assesses businesses’ sustainability efforts.

Ecosia’s latest update offers a browser option in Chrome and Safari for iOS, as well as the option to install as an individual extension on desktops. Furthermore, Ecosia’s dark mode feature helps reduce eye strain and extend battery life by up to 30%.

Twitter

Twitter is a social media website that allows users to send and receive short messages known as “tweets.” In 2017, the limit on tweet characters increased from 140 to 280. Users may add hashtags – acting like meta tags – to their posts in order to make them searchable.

It’s an ideal platform for sharing news and other important information, as well as offering businesses and influencers the chance to network.

Small businesses have the advantage of connecting with customers and cultivating a loyal following, which can ultimately lead to more lucrative success.

As with any social platform, it is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of how to utilize Twitter optimally for your business. Doing so will help create an impressive brand image and attract new customers.

Marketing on Instagram requires time and dedication to build a following, making it ideal for experienced marketers who wish to develop their expertise. Unfortunately, the platform may prove challenging for beginners to master.

SlideShare

SlideShare is an online platform where you can upload content in the form of slides for others to benefit from. This service is free and accessible both through its website or smartphone app.

Document sharing platform Doctorate offers a vast library and hosts various types of content. Furthermore, its search engine is fast and optimized for any device – an impressive feature!

Furthermore, it allows you to add up to 20 tags and keywords for enhanced searchability. This makes finding relevant content much simpler, helping save you time and energy in the process.

Entrepreneurs can gain from SlideShare by creating presentations that boost sales and enhance your company’s brand reputation. This may open doors for additional networking events and business partnership offers, among other advantages.

SlideShare presentations offer you a powerful way to accomplish multiple objectives at once: SEO, brand building, social media marketing, content creation and link building. Not only will your presentations get lots of exposure but they may also significantly improve your website’s search ranking as a result.

Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a free website that collects and preserves human knowledge. Its most renowned feature is the Wayback Machine, which enables users to view historic versions of Web pages.

The Archive houses an expansive library of audio, video, and text files. Users can search by media type to access all or individual sub collections.

However, the Archive is in dispute with publishers over copyright disputes. A suit filed in 2020 by four corporate publishers accused it of piracy for freely disseminating books without paying their authors.

The Internet Archive is one of the world’s largest archives, holding more than 430 billion web “captures”. It was also the first platform of its kind to enable users to save web pages and view them back in time through its Wayback Machine feature.

Brave

If you’re searching for a search engine that doesn’t track your browsing activities and keeps your data private, Brave is an excellent option. You can use it on any platform and set it as your default search engine with just one click.

Its built-in ad blocker blocks ads and cookies, providing fast page loading speeds on both desktop and mobile devices. Furthermore, it doesn’t store your data on its servers.

Another feature is its automatic removal of unwanted elements from web pages to improve speed and privacy, making it much more efficient. Furthermore, this product is free from malware, adware, and spyware.

Brave’s browser also features Speedreader, which scans web pages to remove tracking pixels and intrusive pop-up ads before rendering them – leading to faster load times and lower data usage. You can also enable custom reader mode which filters out annoying ad blockers and other unwanted content before it appears in your browser window.

Neeva

Neeva is a search engine that prioritizes users’ individual preferences and forgoes ads in favor of providing an unfiltered experience. Founded by Sridhar Ramaswamy and Vivek Raghunathan – both former Google employees who worked on monetization – Neeva strives to give its users an exclusive, private environment.

Neeva offers a free basic membership that enables users to connect personal accounts with specific usage limits and set news/shopping preferences. Alternatively, they offer a paid subscription which adds extra benefits and privacy protection tools to the service.

The company’s AI-powered search stack crawls hundreds of millions of pages daily and draws from an independent index of billions of results, providing fast, relevant and free-from bias outcomes.

Neeva offers more than just searching, with features such as connecting to Dropbox, Google products, Slack and more. Plus, there’s Spaces – an innovative feature which saves searches and organizes them into categories for easier retrieval.

WolframAlpha

If you need a search engine that can perform complex math calculations, Wolfram Alpha is an ideal option. It has the capacity to handle matrices, algebra, trigonometry, number theory and more with ease.

The search engine can calculate molecular properties and provide nutritional info for various foods. You can even enter your IP address to receive details about your location, like the time of day and whether it’s sunny or raining.

WolframAlpha differs from Google in that it collects its own information from trusted sources rather than scraping pages for tables, graphs and charts. This allows it to provide tailored answers for each query you submit.

Since 2009, this engine has been providing numerical answers to questions. It also works great for students who need research for class or assignments.

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