Search engine alternatives to Google: The Google alternatives
For many Internet users, Google is the main search engine. But in reality, there are actually other interesting search engines. Bing is currently in second place. Bing is Microsoft’s attempt to position itself with its own search engine.
However, since only a market share of around 4% was achieved, this is less successful. Even though Google is so dominant, there are many providers, including relatively small and unknown ones, that are well worth a closer look and a try. The data collection mania of Google and Bing is certainly a cause for concern (privacy) and leads some to other alternatives(anonymized).
If you want to know that your data is better protected, you can certainly discover one or two interesting providers here. It is definitely worthwhile for companies to consider alternative providers in terms of search engine marketing(SEM) and search engine optimization(SEO). You will realize that depending on who your target group is and where your core business is located, one search engine or another can be very relevant and interesting.
What is the best search engine besides Google?
Ok, Google is the biggest and probably also the best search engine, which is probably due to its powerful algorithm and AI. However, Google exploits your browsing experience at the expense of sharing your personal data and by being able to track you on the internet. So there is not much room for privacy or the possibility of remaining anonymous. In our search engine list you will find all the relevant and popular search engines that exist alongside Google and the reasons why they have been able to establish themselves as alternative search engines.
The top 5 search engines worldwide
Search engines list top 10
Take a look at our Top 10 search engine list and decide for yourself how you would like to search the Internet.
Google search engine
Search engine Google is clearly in first place with a consistent market share of around 90
Of course everyone knows Google! Naturally, the search engine holds first place in our top 10 list. It is the most used search in the world and has a huge lead over our second place. Google is clearly the most used search engine in Germany. In terms of mobile use, the gap to the competition is even greater; in Germany, Google achieved a share of more than 98% of mobile search queries in 2018. An entire industry has emerged that is concerned solely with how websites can be ranked as well as possible in search engines – and Google is the main focus here. The word “google” has even been in the dictionary since 2004.
Bing
Second place with approx. 4 % goes to the search engine Bing
Microsoft launched Bing in an attempt to challenge Google in terms of search engine rankings. Despite major advertising campaigns, Bing is still far behind Google today. We are of the opinion that this will not change any time soon. Visually and functionally, Bing is not much different from Google. Collaboration with social networks and voice search is easily possible with Bing. The latter is actually Bing’s hobbyhorse and until recently all virtual assistants operated with Bing. Siri from Apple has now switched to Google. Advantages: Google-like search, pre-installed for Microsoft users, voice search, smart home use, provides metasearch for other search engines. Target group: Microsoft users, smart home users, popular worldwide.
Yahoo search engine
Third place goes to the Yahoo search engine
Yahoo is still the most popular e-mail provider in the world today. However, the company is in third place in the search engine rankings with a large gap to its competitors. The Yahoo search engine is supported by Bing. It has been around since 1994 and is one of the dinosaurs, the tree of trees so to speak, along with AOL and Co. Yahoo! has been part of Oath together with Bing since 2017. The user interface and the search results hardly differ from each other. Here, too, there is no anonymity and the data is stored. Advantages: Bing-like, messaging service. Target group: Mainly the US market and Yahoo e-mail users
Ask
4th place goes to the search engine Ask
With 0.05 percent of the search share worldwide, Ask is in 4th place. Ask is a somewhat different search based on a question-and-answer format. The answers are provided by real users. Ask searches surveys and forums and answers common questions with answers that have been given online at some point. The accuracy and correctness of the answers are questionable. Advantages: Quick answers to common questions and the source for researchers of trends. Target group: Simple questioners and forum users
Aol
The 5th place goes to the search engine Aol.
Every user over 35 is probably familiar with the Aol network, but with a market share of 0.04 percent it is no longer so successful. Despite everything, Aol is still in 5th place. What was once the largest Internet company in the world still has a search engine today. “AOL Search” uses Blinkx as a video search and is otherwise based on Bing. The results are listed with the help of Bing. Advantages: Convenient to use with messaging and e-mail service. Target group: Mainly US market
Baidu
6th place goes to the search engine Baidu
Search from China receives several billion search queries per month. The growth is enormous and this will lead to a better ranking in the top 10 search engine list in the future. Baidu is to China what Google is to the world. The user interface is exclusively in Chinese. Advantages: targeted search for MP3s and optimized for Chinese Internet users. Target group: consequently the Chinese market
WolframAlpha
The 7th place is occupied by WolframAlpha
The search engine for facts and statistics. WolframAlpha is particularly suitable for searching certain topics. The focus there is particularly on calculations. Unfortunately only 7th place in the top 10 search engine list. Provide appropriate answers by processing the information using algorithms. This should lead to a precise search and accurate results. You can find out the source by clicking on the result. Unfortunately only available in English. Apple’s voice assistant Siri uses WolframAlpha for answers. The search engine does not allow anonymous use and stores data. Advantages: Clear and quick answers without links, with references. Target group: Users with knowledge of English, pupils, students, teachers, scientists
DuckDuckgo
8th place goes to duckduckgo
A very user-friendly search engine. It does not track users and shows relatively few ads in the search bar. A search engine that is only relatively focused on the user. Top 8 in the top 10 search engines list. A US search engine whose user numbers are growing rapidly. DuckDuckGo attaches great importance to data protection, does not store any user data and offers searches for websites, videos and images. Instead of personalized advertising, we work with ads that are tailored to the search terms and display one ad per search result. User interface is usable and clear. The user has the option to hide commercial search results. Advantages: Privacy protection, hiding of commercial search results, access to Tor hidden services. Target group: All users who want a precise search, but with the appropriate data protection.
Internet archive
The 9th place is occupied by the search engine Internet Archive
The Internet archive is a journey back in time. You want to see what your website looked like 10 years ago. Then visit archiv.org and take a look at how a website has changed over the years.
Search engine Yandex
The 10th place goes to Yandex
This search engine clearly belongs in the top 10 list of search engines. The Yandex search engine is the largest search engine in Russia with a market share of approx. 70 percent. The search engine can be used in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Uzbek, English and Turkish. Advantages: similar to Google, good analysis tool. Target group: Russian market, markets in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Ukraine, Balkan states
What is a search engine?
It is a web application that enables users to search for specific information on the World Wide Web. Software that searches documents and files for the term(s) entered. The results are displayed in the form of lists, also known as SERPs. The information displayed is diverse and can, for example, be links to websites or images, videos, graphics, articles and more. A search engine is a program that can be used to search large databases for keywords; after entering a term, it provides links to pages that could be associated with the search term. Indexes are created in the search engine program, which are constantly updated according to the search queries.
The best known are search engines on the Internet, but operating systems also have an integrated search function to search the PC for data.
How do search engines work?
Documents that the search engine indexes (reads out and saves in the index) serve as the data basis. They are usually based on powerful algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). The software contains the so-called “crawlers”, which continuously and systematically crawl/search the Internet for new or changed information, which is then stored in a database. This information is entered into the index lists and is similar to an encyclopedia. If a search query is started, the index is only searched for the search term. This provides fast and accurate information. But a search engine can do much more. The advanced search offers the possibility to specify e.g. language, age or similar. You can search not only for websites, but also for images and videos or news. You can filter what you really want, e.g. by image rights, sizes or by map material that plans routes or searches for places.
How do websites get into the search engine index?
You are indexing! Bots, also known as crawlers, search websites for content. A fully automatic process, how else, apart from the still existing possibility to index it manually via Google ‘s Search Console, should one master the mass of websites. The option to implement it manually remains and has the advantage that if there is a technical misconfiguration and there was no automatic process as a result, you can take action yourself.
Why and how do we use search engines?
Search engines should provide a framework, including a structure, to filter the numerous websites according to search terms. The aim is to provide the user with the required information. Almost 3.8 million users per minute submit a search query. Search engines have become an integral part of today’s society. A sphere with clairvoyant abilities that quickly and reliably displays the most relevant result. Potential customers therefore assume that they will receive a direct answer to their question. In the best case scenario, you will end up on your website. So if your content is good and suitable for the search engine, you will win your customers.
But how do we know what the right content is and what our customers are looking for? The big secret lies simply in the intention (reason). If you want to benefit from the search engine, then it must be clear that the customer’s intention will be decisive.
But since we know that it is not a sphere with clairvoyant abilities, we also know that search engines are tools that are still operated by humans. And people always have an emotional need or a problem and are looking for their perfect solution.
What market shares do other search engines have?
According to Statista in December 2018, the following providers have the following market shares:
- Bing: 3.99 percent worldwide and 4.2 percent in Germany.
- Yahoo!: 2.84 percent worldwide and 1.5 percent in Germany.
- Yandex RU: 0.99 percent worldwide and almost unrecognizable in Germany.
- Baidu: 0.56 percent worldwide and almost unrecognizable in Germany.
- DuckDuckGo: 0.57 percent in Germany.
What search engines are there and what are metasearch engines?
There are numerous providers. In addition to our top 10 list, we will show you a few more, including their characteristics, advantages and the corresponding target group.
Do you already know metasearch engines? You send the search query to several external search engines, then sort and prepare the results for the user. Hybrid metasearch engines also use their own algorithm with bots, which then supplements the results of the other search engines. There is also the peer-to-peer search engine, P2P for short, which works without a central server. Peer-to-peer means that the search results are generated by cross-communication between the servers in a computer network.
Search engine list for Google alternatives
Other alternative search engines, in addition to the top 10 already mentioned above
- Apollo 7
A German meta search engine that queries several search engines and does not summarize their results, but produces lists. The user interface is not clear and outdated. Advantages: the search can be limited in time. Overview of results lists. Target group: German users of the Ask search engine
- Blinkx
An alternative to Google‘s video search. The search engine also works with speech recognition software so that additional metadata can be generated for the videos. Advantages: Video search with voice recognition. Target group: Users who can’t find anything on Google and YouTube
- Buzzsumo
Find out which websites or content achieve the perfect viral marketing. Well suited for social media marketing, as these facts are important. Advantages: Active trend research and action planning. Target group: Online marketing managers, trend researchers, etc.
- Creative Commons
A non-profit organization, a rights analysis tool. Search websites for specific works that have a corresponding CC license. First enter the search term, then the user chooses which platform they want to search on and the search algorithms filter out the works. Advantages: Find CC licensed works for free use. Target group: Website operators, journalists, photo editors
- Crunchbase
Especially for start-ups. All information on companies, investors, sponsors and also on specific products and people. Advantages: Young companies and founders find investors and vice versa. Target group: Start-ups, investors
- DeuSu
DeuSu is a friendly one-man German open source project. The operator completely dispenses with advertising and relies entirely on donations. The website is HTTPS-encrypted throughout and has its own search index. Advantages: no advertising, HTTPS encrypted. Target group: Everyone
- Exalead
From France and you can not only websites, but also videos and images. For images, there is an automatic image recognition function that can be restricted to faces. Search results are displayed with thumbnails and there is a special Wikipedia search engine. Advantages: Face recognition, video and image search, preview images in the search results. Target group: French market, international users interested in the Wikipedia search engine or image recognition.
- GMX
Belongs to Web.de, i.e. 1&1 Mail und Media GmbH. Web search is based on the Google search engine and is marketed through Google ads. Advantages: Use of users of the GMX e-mail service, messaging service. Target group: Users of GMX e-mail services worldwide
- MetaGer
Especially recommended. It was developed at the University of Hanover and is a project of the association for free access to knowledge SuMa.ev, the servers are located in Germany. The advanced search is already a clear start page, where users can make numerous settings. You can select which search services are evaluated. Advantages: MetaGer stores and tracks nothing, offers Tor access, there are plugins for all major browsers and an Android app. Target group: clear, simple seekers who do not want to be tracked or saved.
The offshoot MetaGer2 has set itself the goal of sorting out “garbage” from the search results, such as fake pages that are used to manipulate search engines.
- Qwant
A French search service primarily sets itself apart with a special user interface design in many languages and its own technology. The search results are displayed in a table by subject area. Advantages: the results are well sorted, not filtered and simplify the evaluation, enables anonymous use. Target group: Users with a desire for data protection who want to receive search results in a formatted but unfiltered form.
- Search.de
From Switzerland and optimized for the Swiss. The Internet search engine contains a Swiss telephone directory, a weather forecast, a route planner and information on night traffic and events. Advantages: Perfectly tailored to the needs of Swiss people. Target group: Swiss
- Startpage/Ixquick
Founded in 2006, Startpage from the Netherlands focuses on uncompromising data protection. The search engine emerged from Ixquick and was awarded the European data protection seal of approval in 2008. Users can use a free proxy service for greater anonymity and Startpage uses an encrypted SSL connection by default. The Dutch operator uses servers in Europe and the USA. Advantages: uncompromising data protection, you can specify in the settings that EU servers are always used, apps for iOS and Android. Target group Data protection affine
- WorldWideScience
Search for scientific texts. Search for the author, the type of text or the country of origin. Not only text documents, but also multimedia data. This involves searching worldwide databases with scientific papers and portals. A translation is available in various languages. Advantages: Fast comparison of scientific databases worldwide, multimedia search. Target group: Pupils, students, teachers, scientists
- YaCy
A peer-to-peer search engine that uses its own software. You need the open source software to use it. This is available for Windows, iOS and Linux, among others. Advantages: Neutrality, web crawlers reach non-public websites, Tor hidden services access. Target group: Users who want to receive unfiltered, uncensored search results, such as journalists and students
There is also something for environmentally conscious people, namely Ecosia!
- Ecosia
The green search engine from Berlin: around 80 percent of the surplus is donated by the company for the purpose of reforestation. The focus here is on sustainability. The company actually uses Bing’s search and donates a large part of the surplus revenue to ecological reforestation projects. The company’s own servers are powered by green electricity. A counter on the start page shows how many trees have already been planted. Approx. 45 search queries result in a new tree. Bing provides the results. Stored data such as search queries and IP addresses are passed on to partners such as Microsoft in anonymized form. The user interface is clear, user-friendly and available in different languages. Advantages: An engine that helps with every search query to get trees in German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Swedish. IP addresses are passed on to partners anonymously. Target group: Mainly Germans with a love of nature
For the SEOs among you, there is also Majestic.
- Majestic
Indispensable for every SEO person, although strictly speaking it is not a search engine, but an analysis tool with web crawlers. A backlink search engine that provides important information on the backlink structure of a website. The search is based on keywords or the URL. Advantages: Backlink analysis of websites. Target group: SEOs, online marketing managers, trend researchers, agencies
Now that we have involved so many groups of people, the youngest among us should not be left out, because the future belongs to our children.
- Blind cow
A German search engine that is specifically geared towards the interests of children. Supported by the Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, it is run by a non-profit organization and has access to more than 30,000 websites. Advantages: child-friendly search results, knowledge transfer. Target group: Children between the ages of 8 and 12, teachers
- askFinn
One of the best German search engines for children. Provide and display safe search results for children. Regular updates and only 5,000 sources make this possible. It is financed by membership fees and donations. Advantages: child-friendly search results, relevant access to knowledge. Target group: Children between 6 and 12 years, teachers
- Bright little head
Especially for children and young people. Children can use this search engine not only to search the Internet, but also to obtain extensive information on various areas of knowledge. The search engine for children is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Advantages: child-friendly search results, relevant access to knowledge. Target group: Children between 6 and 12 years, educators
Search engines like Google?
As we all know that our data is worth a lot of money, it is not surprising that the majority of search engines use and store this data. They work with this data and accept that the user gives up their anonymity. This is ideal and practical for companies and businesses that place personalized advertising. However, the whole drama surrounding data finally ended with the increasing awareness of users of search engines and brought the GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation) to light. This ushered in a new era of search engines. Finally, search engines that are financed by non-personalized advertising or do without advertising and commercial results and also do not store any data can fill a gap that is welcome. Now Google, Bing & Co. have competition that really needs to be taken seriously.
Now we are also coming onto the scene, namely the SEOs. In order to achieve a good ranking as a website operator in times of the new GDPR, SEO optimization of websites and stores is becoming increasingly important. The fact is that a website must offer the user added value and a high level of usability. All this is made possible by relevant texts and content.
Search engine duckduckgo: DSVGO compliant?
DuckDuckGo, an up-and-coming search engine from the USA, recorded more than 23 million search queries per day in 2018. DuckDuckGo does not use advertising and promises the user that no personal data will be saved. Privacy is paramount here and the focus is very much on data protection. It does not store any user data and instead of personalized advertising, it works with ads that are tailored to the search terms and display one ad per search result. The user interface is usable and clear. The user has the option to hide commercial search results. The big advantage is simply the protection of privacy, for all users who want to have a precise search, but want to search with the appropriate data protection.
Trends, benefits and developments
The fact is, Google is the most accurate search engine, but users have to pay for the service with their data. However, there are Google alternatives for desktop browsers or smartphones that are not so inquisitive about our data and still achieve good results.
Search engines are constantly evolving and becoming more intelligent, for example with the help of AI. Among other things, Google has committed itself to the idea of giving people direct answers and spitting out all the information they need after the first query. Often you don’t even have to click on the suggested websites. With Google Voice Search, you can even call up the search without typing, using voice commands. However, this development is not limited to Google, but the company is once again leading the way.
The good alternatives are probably the meta search engines, which forward the queries to Google and other providers and process them for the user. They do not store any IP addresses or other data that can be used to identify users and use hardly any or no cookies.
You too can climb to the top of the search engines!
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