If you’ve ever looked for something on the internet, chances are you’ve used Google. You might even use it as your default search engine. But with the recent introduction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, there are now more alternatives to Google search than ever before.
This is not an article about why Google is bad or why you should stop using it. It’s just a list of some great alternatives that you can use that will offer the same benefits as Google, but without any of the drawbacks. Here are some top-notch options for smarter search results.
When it comes to search engines, Google isn’t the only option. Many people are unaware of this because Google is so ubiquitous that they become blind to other search engine options. If you search for something on Google search right now, search results are likely to appear very quickly – but this may not always be the case. If there’s too much content for search algorithms to crawl or if search results are censored by your internet service provider (ISP), then pages might never show up at all. This is one of the main reasons why alternatives to Google search exist.
Google has faced many lawsuits over privacy concerns due to their search algorithms collecting users’ personal data sent over unprotected Wi-Fi networks. Recently, the search engine has also come under fire for censoring search results and data mining user search history to send targeted ads. It’s likely that search engines like Blumble, DuckDuckGo and Qwant will continue to grow in popularity due to recent changes in search algorithms and privacy concerns with Google search.
There are many search engines available besides Google search. Here is a small selection of alternatives we recommend you try out:
Blumble
Before you go to a website, Blumble shows you its security and reputation data. Only visit websites that score highly on our website safety & reputation score card to browse the web more safely. Blumble will show you if we believe a website is safe, somewhat safe, or dangerous for most search results. This will make it simpler to determine whether you should visit the site or avoid it entirely.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that takes your privacy seriously. It doesn’t collect any data about you, search history, or IP address. This search engine gives you results just as good as Google search but with much more privacy. DuckDuckGo claims to use over 400 sources to build their search results which include Yahoo!, Yandex, and WolframAlpha.
Qwant
Qwant search engine might be the most similar competitor to Google search in this list because it searches through all of its websites for web pages, images, videos, news reports and blog posts. When it finds them all, Qwant lists the links in descending order of importance with the most relevant ones on top.
Bing
Bing search engine can search for images, videos, news reports and blog posts just like Qwant. It also has a feature that automatically detects search terms from your search history that might be related to what you’re looking for.
Yandex
Yandex search engine comes first on this list of alternatives not only because it is the most similar competitor to Google search but also because it’s one of the largest search engines in Europe. This search engine has more than 100 million users and gets over 75% of its traffic from Russia and Eastern Europe. It gives great results including images, video, news reports and blog posts as well as some sponsored links at the top
Startpage
Startpage search engine doesn’t search through its own websites for search results because it doesn’t have any. It uses Google search but unlike other search engines, Startpage does not show you the search results page full of ads and sponsored links. Instead, it shows you the first ten search results along with some relevant articles pulled from other sites by an automated process called Ixquick metasearch. And since it’s based in Europe, Startpage is totally GDPR compliant.
Yahoo!
Yahoo search engine isn’t what it used to be, but search results still rank quite high. Since the search engine is owned by Verizon as of June 2017, you can expect that search results will get progressively worse as time goes on. Some search terms may return better results than others, but overall Yahoo! search engine is one of the best alternatives to Google search out there.
AskSearch
Ask is based in the US and has search results similar to those listed above, such as search history, images, videos and news reports. The search engine also includes sites like Wikipedia and dictionary definitions for all search terms. With a simple interface and good search results, Ask search engine is a great alternative to Google search.
Baidu
Baidu search engine is the search engine of choice for most people in China. It ranks search results quite high and has a search interface that is easy to use.
Wolfram Alpha
WolframAlpha search engine is quite different from the search engines listed above. While most search engines search through web pages, WolframAlpha searches for information and data.
Other honorable mentions:
Boardreader search engine is search engine for search engines. It finds search results from search engines other than Google like Bing, Yahoo!, Yandex and other search
Ecosia search engine ranks search results using search data from other search engines, but it doesn’t actually search for those search terms on its own. Instead, Ecosia search engine plants trees for every search term you search.
Search Encrypt search engine is probably the most secure search engine on this list. It encrypts search terms through HTTPS before sending them to search engines like Google search.
SearX search engine does not search for search terms on its own, but instead allows users to search multiple search engines at once. SearX search plugin is availablefor most browsers, and search terms can be sent anonymously through the Tor network. Like Ecosia search engine, SearX search engine donates to charity organizations like Wikipedia, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Amnesty International.
Disconnect search engine is a search engine that keeps you search data safe by not sending search terms to search engines like Google search. Instead, search data is encrypted before being sent to search results websites.
MetaGersearch engine is search engine that uses search data from search engines like Google search but keeps your search terms safe by keeping search activity anonymous.
Gibiru search engine search results do not include ads, which makes search a lot more enjoyable. It also searches through images and videos in addition to search results from search engines like Google search.
Yippy search engine search results are not as good as most search engines on this list, but the search engine anonymizes search terms before sending them to search engines like Google search.
AlternativeTo search engine gives you search results from other websites, not search engines likeGoogle search. It’s recommended that you search for alternative search engines on AlternativeTo search engine because, well, it’s an alternative to search engines likeGoogle search.
Gigablast search engine search results mix search results from search engines like Google search with search terms from other search engines. So, Gigablast search engine doesn’t search search engines like Google search for search terms. Instead, Gigablast search engine finds search results from other search engines and aggregates them into one.
Summary
The internet is a wonderful resource, but it’s important to be aware of how information can be collected and used by outside sources, such as advertisers and hackers. It’s also important to know where you yourself are giving away personal data through the sites you visit on the internet. By choosing great alternatives to Google search, we can make online browsing more secure for ourselves and our family members – while still gaining all of the benefits of Google search.
