10/16/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/16/2024 05:17
Updated: October 16, 2024
Published: October 15, 2024
When I think back to my school days when we were asked to complete research papers using good old-fashioned books from the library, and I genuinely don't think I could do that today.
I've become so accustomed to the wide accessibility of information on the Internet that I'm willing to do anything to maintain that access, including risking inaccurate information or an inefficient experience.
And I'm not the only one who feels this way.
In HubSpot's Consumer Trends study surveying more than 700 consumers in January 2024, 78% of consumers said they search for brands online using a search engine like Google, and 79% use search engines like Google to search for answers to questions, as opposed to AI chatbots or social media.
However, only 51% find search engines like Google very effective at answering their questions.
This means many of us blindly use Google because it's what we know best and not because we think it's good at what we need it to do. But we don't need to suffer anymore - there are tons of great search engine options that aren't Google.
Table of Contents
Google has become quite an oversaturated advertising platform, and it makes sense why. The platform can increase brand awareness by up to 80%, so it's not shocking that 96% of brands use Google Pay-Per-Click Ads.
While it's great as a business owner or marketer to use this strategy and can also be beneficial to consumers as a way to discover new brands, I can also sympathize with the frustration of struggling to find the best and quickest answer to a question because I'm bombarded with only slightly relevant links.
Therefore, looking for search engine alternatives that limit the ad experience or support no ads can be ideal to increase the efficiency and efficacy of your search journey.
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It's quite interesting to me that, as a society, we've developed such a habit of searching queries on Google. After all, in my experience, I rarely receive a direct answer to my questions on this search engine.
Yes, Google can direct me to countless resources that likely have the answers I'm looking for, but it only occasionally populates the best answer when using its AI model Gemini.
I've found that Gemini doesn't always automatically weigh in on my search results, so I then need to skim through various links and select random websites to come to conclusions.
Top search engines should do this work for me by analyzing all the available resources online and offering high-quality answers to my questions.
Privacy is a real concern for many consumers. 75% of consumers agree that data privacy is a human right and that they should have complete control over how a company uses their data.
While 85% of adults globally want to do more to protect their online privacy using services like Google, 62% believe it's impossible to go through their daily lives without companies like Google collecting their private data.
There is a way, though, to take more control over your privacy: by using a search engine that emphasizes and specializes in data protection. This is an important consideration when looking for Google alternatives.
While the main purpose of using a search engine is to search for answers and information, many other traits can set a platform apart from competitors.
For instance, some search engines have an environmental focus and will put ad revenue towards eco-friendly causes, and the same applies to all sorts of charitable causes.
There are also family-friendly search engines, AI search engines, news-focused search engines, and many more options that can align with your interests and needs.
Once you've assessed which of these considerations are most important in your review of new search engines, take a look at my list of the best Google alternatives.
Kagi stresses high-quality, accurate search results without any ads. To maintain its ad-free status, the platform charges a subscription fee of $5 per month which replaces the required revenue to run the platform that would otherwise come from advertising.
I set up my account and opted for the free trial which allows for 100 search results. Then, I was able to customize the appearance of the search engine in many ways.
After I updated some of these settings, I searched for my first test question.
Mojeek is not completely ad-free as it does display some text ads in search results. However, the ads on this platform are based only on search keywords and location and not on any data pulled from the user search engine.
Mojeek is also much less ad-intensive than other search engines, like Google. It has its own web crawler and information index. Unlike Google, Mojeek has an independent ad platform where brands can place ads directly on and separately from major search engines.
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Perplexity is an AI search engine that collects, analyzes, and deconstructs information from various sources to provide a high-quality, human-like response to any question or prompt. It's more than a regular search engine as its AI power means you don't need to scroll through and skim various links to answers.
Perplexity combines the communication and synthesis abilities of a chatbot like ChatGPT with a search engine's web crawling and information-gathering capabilities to provide precise and detailed responses to any prompt.
What makes it a strong Google alternative is that it, too, doesn't rely on an innate knowledge base but can quickly scour the internet for relevant, related sources to pull together its findings.
Wolfram Alpha is a search engine that specializes in computational knowledge. It can provide very detailed responses to questions related to data, math, sciences, and other factual topics. For instance, I selected the topic "Food & Nutrition," as seen below.
As you can see, this powerful engine can access very specific, detailed information about a wide variety of topics. There is information on this search engine that I never would have even thought to search for.
Since this search engine is so intelligent, I did try searching some basic questions to see how it would handle them. First up, I checked the average rent in New York City.
Next, I tried a more niche question that I felt was still computational:
Lastly, I tried something I might most commonly lookup on a search engine like Google, but was left empty-handed:
Startpage is unique because it doesn't have its own index of websites or web crawler. Instead, it acts as a middleman between users and other search engines like Google.
How it works is that it submits your question on your behalf to other search engines, so that you can protect your anonymity. Therefore, you will receive Google and Bing search results while maintaining your privacy from the data tracking practices from which those search engines profit.
It's basically the equivalent of searching in "incognito mode," but without the hassle of having to remember to switch that mode on.
Brave Search boasts security and privacy while browsing the internet, which it manages to do by not tracking users or any of their searches. Brave Search can't share or sell personal data because it never gets collected in the first place.
This is helpful for those who work from public computers or networks. It can also be attractive to those interested in both privacy and AI, as the platform introduced Answer with AI earlier this year. This feature has quickly become one of the largest AI solutions.
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OceanHero is an incredible search engine with an environmental purpose. It generates revenue through search ads and donates the proceeds to organizations like PlasticBank who are dedicated to collecting plastic to clean up oceans.
OceanHero turns searching into a challenge. You can work towards earning as many shells as possible. Once you've collected 100 shells, your bottle counter increases by one to reveal how many ocean-bound plastic bottles you've helped rescue.
On average, five searches or 17 new tabs in the browser extension contribute to recovering one plastic bottle.
First, I had to add OceanHero as a Google Chrome extension.
Then, I followed the instructions to begin using OceanHero as my primary search engine.
Swisscows is unique in that it boasts family-friendly content, so users can feel confident in allowing their kids to use the search engine freely. In addition, this search engine has a charitable edge.
The heart icon at the top of the browser keeps track of a user's number of searches. The search engine states that, on average, 50 searches help finance a meal for a child. You can read more about Swisscows' social projects, impact, and donation opportunities here.
While I've gone over the pros and cons of using these eight search engines as a consumer, it's equally important to know how best to operate them as a brand.
Read on for some of my tips on successfully optimizing for these Google alternatives.
It may seem obvious, but the most important part of your search engine strategy should be creating content worthy of a search. In such a crowded marketplace, with users having to decide between dozens of sources with near-identical information, it's difficult to stand out without quality content.
Employ search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure you're creating content around topics that users are interested in. And, while it's important to incorporate those keywords, make sure the language on your websites, blog posts, or other platforms feels authentic and natural.
For instance, when I write my HubSpot blog posts, I integrate my opinions and experience, while still hitting keywords, which results in personalized and useful content. I also always write in my natural tone of voice to sound like my authentic self and not a robot.
Speaking of keywords, it's important to broaden the types of keywords referenced in your content. While it's easier to plug single-word keywords into any piece of content, it can be more profitable to incorporate longer phrases.
Long-tail keywords are typically three or more words and have lower search volumes. However, they make up a larger percentage of searches when combined and are more likely to result in conversions, since the keywords are so specific.
Backlinks are created when another website links to your website. As an example, this is now a backlink for Backlinko.
Backlinks are important as they can show users that your content is reputable. The best way to get backlinks is by giving them back to other trusted sources. Build important partnerships with brands for a mutually beneficial relationship.
As seen in this post, each search engine has a different appearance and format. This will impact how your content shows up in users' search results. Therefore, when targeting a new search engine, you must update your content's web experience.
For instance, some search engines like Kagi show the date of publication upfront in search results, which encourages me to refresh my content regularly so it appears recent and reliable.
Other search engines like Swisscows include a photo icon in search results, so I would want to confirm I have a high-quality, clear, relevant photo chosen alongside the URL.
I mentioned that there are search engines with special features and purposes, like OceanHero and Swisscows. It can be to your benefit to include search engines in your strategy if their niches align with your brand's niche.
I work at Nickelodeon, so I'd assume our team has optimized our content for family-friendly search engines like Swisscows. If I were to work at a nonprofit or AI company, I'd similarly want to include search engines in those niches in my strategy.
While Google was not the first search engine, it was an early contender and unique because its founders, two PhD students from Stanford University, developed PageRank, an algorithm that listed sites in order of the number of links to them.
Since then, dozens of new search engines have emerged with different focuses, algorithms, and solutions to problems. It's imperative, as a brand owner, to stay on top of this ever-changing landscape and accordingly update your SEO strategy.
After all, Google introduced its first AI system, RankBrain, in 2015. Less than ten years later, there are countless AI search engines and standard search engines with AI capabilities. Having an eye on trends and improving user experience will always be a necessity.
When diving into this post, I was aware of some of these non-Google search engines, but my mind is truly blown at how many options there are.
While Google still has more than 90% market share, other search engines can provide unique, individualized experiences for those willing to give them a chance.
In particular, my favorites from this list are Perplexity, which I've already integrated into my routine, and OceanHero.
I think both show how search engines can take the common human action of searching queries and take that to the next level to improve users' lives or the greater world.
Google may seem like the easy, obvious choice, but there is a lot of value in incorporating some of these other search engines to better optimize your content for search.
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