There is no doubt that Google is the most dominant search engine for Internet users in most parts of the world. Recent studies show thatGoogle has an 88% market sharefor desktop and mobile searches in the US, and there's no sign of that changing.
At this level of market share, there are about 70,000 searches per second, 5 billion searches per day, and 2 trillion searches per year on Google.
Those are crazy numbers and impressive statistics, right?
But, it doesn't come without a cost. Internet users are becoming more aware of how Google tracks and uses their data to share with advertisers, which means some are choosing to use alternative, more private search engines.
We're very quick to think of a search engine as a direct Google equivalent like Bing or Yahoo, but the reality is that there are also specialized search engines and platforms like YouTube and GIPHY that return a specific type of results.
It's also not surprising that Google is where most SEOs focus their efforts, but you could be missing out on other opportunities to drive traffic by ignoring the alternatives. Google isn't one size fits all, so we've compiled a list of alternative search engines, from the expected to the unknown, that are available for you to use:
- The search giants
- Search engines that prioritize privacy
- charity search engines
- Format-specific search mechanisms
- Optimizing your site for alternative search engines
The search giants
Think of a search engine other than Google, and Bing and Yahoo are likely to be the first to come to mind. Bing offers a more visual approach to search, although most will remember that Yahoo was once a much more powerful engine. strength of what it is today (does anyone remember thoseDeveloped by Inktomidias)?
1. Bing
there's no denying itBinglags behind Google in terms of how many users interact with the platform, currently holding just under 7% of the US search market. It offers the same essential Google features like translation, rich snippets, search calculators, and more. conversion, letters of knowledge for hotels and flights, etc.
But there are also more advanced features that we are underestimating. Bing offers a much more visual approach to search. Its home page is dominated by images and videos, and it also offers advanced features such as machine learning predictions for sports and election results.
Its image search is much more advanced than Google's and has object detection intelligence within the image search feature. You can also save searches as 'collections', making it easy to return to your search later. Bing is the top search engine when it comes to image search.
Plus, it has some amazing perks. HeBing RewardsThe feature also rewards its users by giving them credits just for using its platform to browse.*
* You'll need to stay logged in to earn points while you search, but you can use any device, be it mobile, tablet or desktop.
2.Yahoo
yahooIt used to be one of the biggest search engines in the world; it now has just under 3.5% of the market.
We shouldn't be too hasty when it comes to declining popularity over the years, as Yahoo is still the third largest search engine in the US, but they're not as visually appealing. However, users suggest that this platform is an option to look for services related to news, sports and finance.
Search engines that prioritize privacy
As search engines have become more internet savvy in recent years, it's no surprise that users have become more cybersecurity conscious. Marketers have seen a notable increase in the number of search engines that place privacy at the heart of their platform. Here are some privacy-focused alternative search engines:
3.DuckDuckGo
Whileduck duck to winhas increased in popularity recently, it still only has around 1.5% share of the US search market.
DuckDuckGo is considered one of the best search engines for private browsing, which is why it has gained market share in recent years. It does not collect any data about the searches you perform or your personal information, and this alone is one of the main reasons for its recent rise in popularity.
And one feature to look out for is the 'Bang' search. You can use this feature if you know when you want to search on other platforms (Wikipedia, eBay, Amazon, etc.). Just click on your 'burst' and it will take you to your chosen website.*
*DuckDuckGo makes it clear that if you visit other websites, you will be subject to their policies, including how they collect your data and not theirs.
4.Startpage.com
Homepage.commakes the bold claim that it is the most private search engine in the world. This statement leads togood amount of media coverageas well as a third party audit by theEuropean Privacy Seal.
Startpage.com's claims can be supported by its "no logs" policy. The 'no-logs' policy means that the search engine has no idea who its users are; they do not store browsers IP address or store tracking cookies.
If you are simply looking for relevant results with the confidence that privacy comes first, Startpage.com is the right choice for you.
5. What do I want?
I wantclaims to 'respect your privacy' and is another reliable option for anyone looking for a true Google alternative.
Unlike other search engines that prioritize privacy, Qwant uses its indexing engine combined with Bing results to emphasize preventing personalization of search results to avoid searchers being trapped in afilter bubble.As this search engine is based in Paris, it is essential to know that European privacy protection laws are often much stricter than in other parts of the world, such as the US.
And to get it out of Qwantthemselves:
When you use Qwant as a search engine, we do not place any cookies on your browser that would allow us or others to recognize or track you anywhere on the Internet. We do not use any tracking device (pixel, fingerprint…). We do not collect or store any history or your searches. When you perform a search, your query is instantly anonymized by being decoupled from your IP address, in accordance with the advice of the French data controller. Long story short, what you are doing with Qwant is part of your privacy and we don't want to know about it.
- I want
6. Swiss cows
swiss cowsis another European search engine heavily focused on the privacy of its users. They market themselves around three main promises that make them a great alternative to Google and others:
- They don't store your data.
- They place great importance on family content
- They created an innovative search engine
Enabling children to browse the web is a concern for many parents, and Swisscows is committed to providing a search engine that is a safe environment for the whole family to enjoy the web.
7. Encrypted search
In your face,search encryptit looks a lot like Google, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
There is a clear emphasis on doing one thing: getting the user to search.
However, the purpose of Search Encrypt is "to protect your privacy by detecting searches that can be tracked and linked to your personal information. It intercepts these searches and redirects them to Search Encrypt's privacy-enhanced search engine, which will be set as your default search engine."
Unlike some of the alternatives here, it stores your history for 30 minutes. Are you wondering if this search engine is right for you? See which users haveI completely switched to this from GoogleI have to say about it.
8. A survey
a research, Verizon's new search engine, features six key privacy-focused features around which they built their search engine:
- no cookies
- No user tracking
- no search history
- Pure, unfiltered results
- Share links with confidence
- keyword encryption
And it's an attractive option, given that parent company Verizon also owns Yahoo. And it's no secret that Yahoo has been under pressure for several years.data breachand privacy mistakes in the past. However, the results are powered by Bing, giving you a way to return results from a platform you're already familiar with. Another advantage of OneSearch is that you enjoy additional layers of privacy.
charity search engines
If you want to do your part to support a great cause while doing your daily web searches, you'll be happy to know that there are charitable search engines that donate every time you do a search. Here are some worth checking out:
9. give water
The unfortunate reality is that many parts of the world still lack access to safe drinking water.
You can help usinggive wateras your preferred search engine and clicking ads on the platform. There's also a handy browser extension you can install to help contribute to this worthy cause.
10. Ekoru
a search inEkoruhelp clean up our oceans.
This charity-run search engine is starting to gain traction as the world becomes increasingly aware of the damage we are doing to our seas and oceans. Ekoru says: Every survey helps raise money for the Big Blue Ocean Cleanup Every survey helps raise money for Operation Posidonia All of their servers are powered by hydroelectric power
This is a genuinely ethical search engine, and everything has been designed with an eco-friendly approach in mind.
Ekoru can also be classified as an alternative to Google as a privacy-first search engine. Its commitment to encrypting all data and not storing any of your searches on its servers is another advantage of this eco-friendly search engine. Double win for Ekoru!
11. Ecosia
Although he only has one0.13% stakeof the US search market,ecosiais a search engine that is rapidly growing in popularity.
Its purpose as a company is to promote positive environmental change and use its resources to plant trees around the world.
Bing powers Ecosia search results so you still get a great search experience like translation, rich snippets, conversion calculators, knowledge graphs for hotels and flights, etc. Ecosia also prides itself on privacy, and users can disable tracking to ensure a private browsing experience.
Ecosia is also growing in popularity; there are currently over 15 million active users and they have helped plant over 100 million trees using the search engine. So if you're looking for a platform that supports protecting your data while giving back to the world, check out Ecosia.
Format-specific search mechanisms
Think about the different things you Googled last week.
We assume you've probably done a search to find:
- Images
- videos
- podcasts
- learning material
But the question you should ask yourself is whether Google is the best search engine to return these results, or are there specific better format options you could use.
Here's a quick rundown of the top format-specific search engines:
12. Youtube
let's guess whatYouTubeIt needs no introduction for you.
After all, it issecond largest search engineand the one that most people use every day. Whether you're looking for videos, from movie clips to podcasts, or looking for creators who arereleasing amazing original content, YouTube is the place to visit.
Yes, you can search and find videos on Google. But when it comes to finding the right content quickly, you should head straight to the platform and use its built-in search engine.
13. Vent
Whether you're about to publish your next blog post, looking for compelling images to use on social media, or even a stunning photo to use as part of your company's printed marketing material, images are an essential part of our interaction with businesses. . However, we all know that stock images can be very expensive.
Unsplashis a search engine that exists to help you find free images to use in your projects without worrying about copyright. So, before turning to Google Images and worrying about getting the rights to an image, know that Unsplash lets you use all photos without strings attached.
Ever attended a conference, didn't take notes, and wanted to find the speaker's session later? Or maybe you haven't shown up and heard someone give a great talk that you wish you had seen.
share slidesit hosts thousands of slideshows covering just about any topic you can imagine. Finding a presentation you already know many times can lead you on a path of discovery to other inspiring content.
15.Creative Commons Research
The second of our recommended alternatives for Google Image Search isCreative Commons Search. Creative Commons Search can help you find content that you can reuse or even modify.
When using Google, there is always a risk that even when you filter by usage type, the file may have been flagged incorrectly or by someone other than the original creator. Creative Commons eliminates that worry, ensuring you find high-quality images. to use quickly.
16. Listen to the notes
Podcasts are growing in popularity right now and we can see on Google Trends how much search activity there is for them on the platform.
But the reality is that Google was not conceived as a podcast search engine, buthear notesIt is. If you're looking for a better way to find your next podcast, give it a try.
17. GIPHY
Who doesn't love a gif?
From finding the right one to use in a presentation to your latest blog post or just sharing on social media, getting it right is essential.
Google Images offers some gifs, but nothing matches the gif library atGIPHY. GIPHY is home to over 10 billion pieces of content, much of which you've probably used on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and more.
Gifs are everywhere, but when you're looking for the right gif, nothing competes with GIPHY.
18. Wiki.com
Last but not least, comesWiki.com, the perfect place to search not only Wikipedia, but also other popular encyclopedias and wikis.
If you're a fan of community-led informational content and use it regularly in your work, Wiki.com can be a huge time saver by helping you find the right information quickly and get the best results.
Optimizing your site for alternative search engines
So what should you do differently to rank on these alternative search engines compared to ranking on Google?
The honest answer to this question is to take the time to understand how each search engine works and what makes it different from Google. For format-specific search engines, you need to know how their algorithms work, as they are not a direct alternative to Google. By properly optimizing for other search engine formats, you'll get better results and receive more relevant traffic.
Here are some great resources to help you do just that:
- YouTube SEO: How to Create a YouTube Channel and Promote It
- How to Optimize Your GIFs for GIPHY
- Breaking SlideShare: How I Got 2,000,000 Views in Just 16 Presentations
- Unsplash Presentations 101
And really, it all comes down to Google or Bing, perhaps with the exception of DuckDuckGo, as most are using results from one of the major search giants to boost their own listings (including Yahoo).
Most search engines are using the results of one of the major search giants to power their own listings (i.e. Google, Bing or Yahoo). However, among the big search giants, there is a critical clash: Google vs. bing. To successfully optimize for Google and Bing, you need to focus on the differences between them.
You can read more about the differences between Bing vs. Googlehere, but to quickly summarize the main points:
- Exact match keywords (in your domain, title tags, H1 tags and URLs) still have a more significant impact on Bing rankings than Google. Just be careful not to hurt your visibility on Google by optimizing for Bing.
- Meta keywords can still be used as a ranking factor. However, this has not been officially confirmed.
- While Google uses PageRank to measure link influence as a ranking factor, Bing sees things a little differently and established domains are known to be a major influencer.
- Bing is very open about how social signals can influence search rankings, leading topreviously mentioned, "Social media plays a role in today's effort to rank well in search results. The most obvious part they play is through influence. If you're socially influential, it drives your followers to share your information widely, which , in turn, causes Bing to see these positive signals. These positive signals can have an impact on your organic ranking in the long term."
- Bing loves media. Using attractive images, videos, and other formats on your site can help maximize visibility.
While Google has become the go-to search engine for most of us, there are other alternative search engines out there. Whether you want to know your data is safer, want to help a good cause while surfing the web, or want to find a specific type of results, don't be afraid to visit another search engine; can help you find what you're looking for.
FAQs
18 Alternative Search Engines to Google (You Should Also Optimize Your Website)? ›
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that could also fit into the mainstream category, but the primary “selling feature” is that it doesn't collect or store any of your personal information.
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that could also fit into the mainstream category, but the primary “selling feature” is that it doesn't collect or store any of your personal information.
- Keywords, on-page factors and technical SEO hold an important place. ...
- Build “Wikipedia-like” backlinks for catapulting your rank in DuckDuckGo results.
DuckDuckGo, which was founded back in 2008, is perhaps the most widely known Google search rival. At the start of 2021, its privacy-focused search engine passed more than 100 million daily search queries for the first time – and has since been averaging around 90 million per month.
What is the most effective search engine? ›1. Google. With over 80% of the search market share, Google is undoubtedly the most popular search engine. Additionally, Google captures almost 95% of mobile traffic.
How do I optimize my website for Google? ›- Make your site interesting and useful.
- Know what your readers want (and give it to them)
- Act in a way that cultivates user trust.
- Make expertise and authoritativeness clear.
- Provide an appropriate amount of content for your subject.
- Avoid distracting advertisements.
- Use links wisely.
Optimize allows you to test variants of web pages and see how they perform against an objective that you specify. Optimize monitors the results of your experiment and tells you which variant is the leader. To get started: Set up Optimize.
What is the best search engine optimization strategy? ›- Know Your Keywords.
- Write High Quality Content (Naturally)
- Use Keywords in Your Website Page URLs.
- Don't Overlook Page Titles.
- Review Every Page for Additional Keyword Placement.
- Improve User Experience.
- Hire an Expert.
Speed. Google is generally quicker than the other search engines at bringing back results. It is able to deliver millions of results in 0.19 of a second. This is down to their technical infrastructure, which is much better than the other engines.
What are the three types of search engines? ›There are three main types of search engines, web crawlers, directories, and sponsored links. Search engines typically use a number of methods to collect and retrieve their results.
What search engine is faster? ›
Google is blazing fast.
It's perhaps the fastest search engine out there. Google can fetch billions of results in less than a second. This is outrageously fast. One thing we all take for granted in 2019.
- Amazon CloudSearch.
- Elasticsearch.
- Swiftype.
- Search.io.
- Cludo.
- Apache Solr.
- Site Search 360.
- Inbenta.
- Startpage. Startpage is effectively Google without the tracking. ...
- DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo is easily the most well-known private search engine around—and the antithesis to Google when it comes to favoring user privacy. ...
- Brave Search. ...
- Swisscows. ...
- Search Encrypt. ...
- OneSearch. ...
- MetaGer. ...
- Mojeek.
DuckDuckGo was founded by Gabriel Weinberg and launched on February 29, 2008, in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
What is the smartest search engine? ›- Google. Besides being the most popular search engine covering over 90% of the worldwide market, Google boasts outstanding features that make it the best search engine in the market. ...
- Bing. ...
- 3. Yahoo. ...
- Baidu. ...
- Yandex. ...
- Duckduckgo. ...
- Contextual Web Search. ...
- Yippy Search.
1. Google. With over 86% of the search market share, one hardly needs to introduce readers to Google.
How do you optimize a website? ›- Pinpoint your market.
- Think about user intent throughout the buyer journey.
- Improve UX with A/B and multivariate testing.
- Create a seamless mobile experience.
- Find your target keywords.
- Build better backlinks.
- Optimize your on-page content.
- Speed up your website.
Website optimization is the process of using tools, advanced strategies, and experiments to improve the performance of your website, further drive more traffic, increase conversions, and grow revenue. One of the most critical aspects of website optimization is search engine optimization (SEO).
How accurate is Google Optimize? ›Optimize analysis shows both the 95% and 50% credible intervals. This means that with the outer range (the 95% credible interval) you can say that there's a 95% probability that the experiment objective is in the credible interval range.
What are the cons of Google Optimize? ›Google Optimize Cons:
No ability to use Google Analytics segments (only in 360 version). Only 3 success metrics (objectives) can be used (unlimited in 360 version). Multi-page testing is not included in the free version (only in 360 version). Reporting is not real-time, with 6-8 hour delays in data coming through.
Why do we Optimize websites? ›
The goal of website optimization is to drive more traffic to a website, increase your number of conversions, and ultimately, increase revenue. All too often, marketers and website owners skip to other marketing strategies without ensuring that their company's website is fully optimized.
What are examples of search engine optimization? ›Some of the most popular include Siteimprove, Moz, BrightEdge, Searchmetrics and Linkdex. These platforms track keyword rankings, help with keyword research, identify on-page and off-page SEO opportunities, and many other tasks related to SEO.
What are the three types of search engine optimization techniques? ›- On-Page SEO. As a marketer, on-page SEO is likely the type you are most familiar with. ...
- Off-Page SEO. Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your website to impact your SERP rankings. ...
- Technical SEO.
The Golden Rule of SEO is "create content for users, not for search engines". This means that when creating website content, the primary focus should be on providing value to users and meeting their needs, rather than trying to manipulate search engine rankings by using keyword stuffing or other unethical tactics.
What are the benefits of using Google? ›Google is the largest search engine in the world, and according to Google, 1 trillion websites are indexed on the search engine. This immediately benefits internet users since they can get reliable information on a variety of topics based on their preferences.
Why has Google become one of the most popular search engines? ›The algorithm was—and still is—being constantly tweaked and updated to give users the most relevant results. Because it started strong and just kept getting better and better, Google became the go-to search engine for the Internet in the space of a few years.
What are the benefits of Google? ›Google provides a lot more to its employees, including bereavement leave. Vacation and sick time, as well as paid holidays, are all included in PTO. The amount of PTO an employee receives will depend on their job title, the number of hours they work per week, and how long they've been with the organization.
Is there a safer search engine than Google? ›DuckDuckGo is the perfect choice if privacy is your top browsing concern. Like Google, DuckDuckGo offers their own mobile & desktop browsers. By default, this browser doesn't collect or store any personal information at all.
Which is the safest web browser? ›- Firefox. Firefox is a robust browser when it comes to both privacy and security. ...
- Google Chrome. Google Chrome is a very intuitive internet browser. ...
- Chromium. Google Chromium is the open-source version of Google Chrome for people who want more control over their browser. ...
- Brave. ...
- Tor.
Tor Browser
Tor browser makes your web traffic anonymous via the Tor network (The Onion Router). As a result, it is easier to protect your identity online. Browsing the web using Tor will be slower than using the clearnet.
What is not likely to be found on a web page? ›
A web page may contain text, graphics, and hyperlinks to other web pages and files. A web page is often used to provide information to viewers, including pictures or videos to help illustrate important topics. A web page may also be used as a method to sell products or services to viewers.
What is a private search engine? ›Private search engines are programs used to browse the internet that do not store search or user information. These search engines are typically used to maintain user privacy. User information includes a variety of data that can be used to identify who a user is. Some of that information includes: IP addresses.
What is a mega search engine? ›A metasearch engine, otherwise known as an aggregator, is a search engine that sends queries to several search engines and either aggregates the results into one master list or categorizes the results by the search engines they come from.
Which application allow access to the World Wide Web? ›A web browser (often referred to as a browser) is a software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web. It allows the user to visit websites and do activities within them. Some of the commonly used browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.
Is there a search engine that doesn't track you? ›DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo (DDG) is a popular privacy search engine. Like Brave, DDG doesn't build user profiles, so it will always show the same search results to all users. And it prevents online tracking of searches or clicks.
Checknews.fr was the slowest search engine around, but also the most accurate. It's wasn't powered by algorithms, but by journalists from Liberation who investigated each query, meaning answers were anything but instantaneous.
What is the longest running search engine? ›- Yahooligans. Year Launched: 1998. ...
- MSN Search. Year Launched: 1998. ...
- Google Search. Year Launched: 1998. ...
- Northern Light. Year Launched: 1997. ...
- HotBot. Year Launched: 1996. ...
- Ask Jeeves. Year Launched: 1996. ...
- MetaCrawler. Year Launched: 1995. ...
- Infoseek. Year Launched: 1995.
Privacy protection for your Search history
Google Search is the safer way to search. Every day Search blocks 40 billion spammy sites from search results so you can search safely, and proactively protects you by encrypting all of your searches.
Tip: You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + f (Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS) or + f (Mac) to find a word or phrase quickly. You can find more info about a specific word or phrase on a page. Highlight a word or phrase. On a PC: Right-click the highlighted content.
Is DuckDuckGo owned by Google? ›No, DuckDuckGo (DDG) is not owned by Google. It is an independent private search engine created in 2008 by Gabriel Weinberg. DuckDuckGo is known for its focus on protecting users' privacy and not tracking their search history. What is DuckDuckGo?
Is DuckDuckGo a good search engine? ›
DuckDuckGo is an overall great choice if you're looking for more privacy. Its anti-tracking policy means you'll have more control over your data. You'll also get less biased search results, so you'll find more variety than a Google search provides. Use DuckDuckGo with a secure VPN to improve your online protection.
Is DuckDuckGo based on Google? ›Is DuckDuckGo Owned by Google? No, DuckDuckGo's website owners are independent and not affiliated with Google, Bing or any other major search engine.
Is there an unbiased search engine? ›Are there any search engines that don't censor content? Search engines like StartPage, DuckDuckGo, Swisscows, Qwant, Infinity Search, Gibiru, and BoardReader do not censor data and give you unbiased, and unfiltered search results.
Does anyone still use DuckDuckGo? ›DuckDuckGo is the second most popular mobile search engine in the U.S. DuckDuckGo users made over 8 billion search queries in Q1 of 2022. DuckDuckGo holds 0.68% of the search engine market share worldwide.
Can your internet provider see DuckDuckGo? ›If you see that icon, you should also see an "https://" at the beginning of the website address, rather than "http://". If a website is using an encrypted connection (i.e., HTTPS, like https://duckduckgo.com/): ISPs cannot see which specific pages within that website you visit (everything after the '/').
What is the downside of DuckDuckGo? ›While using DuckDuckGo, your traffic is not encrypted, making it vulnerable to eavesdropping and IP address discovery. Even if you change your default search engine, your internet service provider (ISP) will still be able to see what you're doing online and may share that information with third parties.
What type of people use DuckDuckGo? ›Data shows the people using DuckDuckGo are those who already know about the search engine, with 93% of its traffic coming from direct visits. Only 1.5% of its traffic comes from organic search.
How much does DuckDuckGo cost per month? ›DuckDuckGo is free to use. The company relies on ad revenue to make money but doesn't sell your information to advertisers or collect data in order to perform targeted advertising. Currently, every DuckDuckGo product, including the search engine, app, and extension, is free to use, and ads are relatively unintrusive.
Why should I use DuckDuckGo instead of Google? ›DuckDuckGo is fairly safe and offers much more privacy than mainstream browsers. First of all, DuckDuckGo's main appeal is your search privacy. This means that DuckDuckGo doesn't collect user data and track your search history. Unlike Google, it doesn't associate what you look for online with your IP address.