Beyond Google Alternatives

Google has dominated the search space for so long that a U.S. District Court judge recently found that it has acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. You have probably used Google Search for as long as you can remember; it’s what replaced things like phone books and encyclopedias.

But just because Google runs the most popular engine doesn’t mean you have to use it. If you have never considered a search engine beyond Google, you might be surprised to see what else is out there.

There are many Google Search alternatives on the market that have gained traction. Whether you’re looking for increased privacy, enhanced AI features or just something different, there are some notable options worth checking out.

While Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo are arguably the most well-known, there are tons of Google Search alternatives that have also been around for a while. But for this list, we’re focusing on newer, lesser-known entrants into the search engine space.

Note: All search engines operate on your existing Browser as a web page. Most have their own software browser or app.

Search Engine    Overview    URL    Features

DuckDuckGo

Simple, Private

https://duckduckgo.com/

 Download Browser for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows OS. Addon extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera & Safari.

Ecosia

Environmentalist Based

https://www.ecosia.org/

Advertisers profits goes to planting trees. Powered by Google & Bing engines. Download Browser for Windows & Mac OS.

Brave Search

Privacy Based, Independent, AI Powered

https://search.brave.com/

Download Browser for Windows, Mac & Linux. AI powered question answers feature on/off. Filter out sources option.

Startpage

Google Based Anonymous View

https://www.startpage.com/

iOS and Android app

Perplexity

Controversial*, AI Powered

https://www.perplexity.ai/

Free to use but $20/Monthly subscription for additional features such as image-generation models. iOS and Android app

SearchGPT

Prototype released July 26, 2024. From ChatGPT/OpenAI

https://chatgpt.com/search

Update: Found Waiting List now closed but under prototype phase. Other ChatBot products https://www.chatbotapp.ai/. It is blurring the line between Search Engines and AI systems.

*Perplexity is being accused of (Forbes & Wired) plagiarism and unethical web scraping around copyright laws. Ref: Techcrunch article

This blog from Ref: Techcrunch article