Top 5 search engines you didn’t know existed
I bet I can tell what you’re thinking…
Think of any search engine.
You thought of Google, didn’t you?
While there are over 100 different search engines around the world, Google is the biggest of them all. As the most popular search engine, Google has a monopoly on search. As a result, we often fall into the trap of only optimising our websites for Google or only doing research with Google.
Outside of the search engine giants of Google, Bing, and Yahoo, there’s a whole host of alternative search engines you likely didn’t know existed. Search engines with cool, unique features or steadfast values on things like privacy and sustainability.
So, I thought I’d share some of the lesser known search engines out there. Stay tuned to learn about five of the top search engines you didn’t know existed and what benefits they have to offer.
Who knows, you just might find a new favourite search engine…
5 search engines you didn’t know existed
There are many reasons why you might want to use an alternative search engine. Whether it’s for environmental reasons and wanting to minimise your carbon footprint or to lock down your privacy while browsing online.
Google is the leading search engine because it offers a great user experience, thanks to having an algorithm that’s been meticulously finetuned over the years.
But, the best search engine for you may depend on what you’re looking for and where your wants, needs, and values lay.
Let’s look at some lesser known search engines you may want to try.
DuckDuckGo
Okay, DuckDuckGo is a search engine you have probably heard of. But it’s also one you might forget about as you’re frantically searching for information online.
DuckDuckGo is the fifth biggest search engine. Yet it only accounts for 0.67% of the global search market compared to Google’s whopping 81.95% market share.
As a private search engine, DuckDuckGo prides itself on not tracking users. This means your searches won’t ever be remembered and they’ll even protect you from tracking on any websites you visit or emails you receive.
With cookieless tracking becoming increasingly important, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not we see an increase in DuckDuckGo users.
While there are certainly benefits to cookieless tracking, it could be a double edged sword. Sure, your search activity is no longer being tracked. Yet, that lack of tracking also brings a lack of personalisation.
One of the main benefits of tracking is that you get a personalised search experience based on your historical activity. Without it, you may find your search journey requires more steps or more precise search queries before you get the results you’re looking for.
If you’re looking for an alternative to Google, DuckDuckGo is probably one of the easiest search engines to transition to. It is also feature-rich with new features and capabilities being added all the time.
Ecosia
Next up, we have Ecosia — an eco-friendly search engine. As the self-proclaimed “search engine that plants trees”, Ecosia has planted 200 million trees so far.
With 36,200 searches on Google, Ecosia’s legitimacy has come into question a few times. But everything they’re saying rings true and they really are a not-for-profit search engine doing good.
It’s estimated to take around 45 searches for one tree to be planted. As someone who can easily go down a rabbit hole of 15 random searches while waiting for the kettle to boil, I can see how the number of trees planted can quickly add up.
I like that Ecosia is a not-for-profit search engine aiming to do good. There’s definitely been a rise in sustainable search engines over the years with Ecosia being one of the better known platforms.
If you use Ecosia’s mobile app you can even track the environmental impact of your search activity. This is a fun way of gamifying your search experience while encouraging you to be more eco-friendly.
If sustainability is something you or your business cares about, you might want to make Ecosia your default search engine.
The search engine result pages (SERPs) also look like Google SERPs. This makes the search engine easy to use from both an aesthetic and navigational perspective.
While the SERP may look like Google, the search results and ads you see on Ecosia are produced using Bing’s algorithm. This means their search ranking criteria also follows the parameters set by Bing.
Dogpile
Dogpile may seem like an odd name for a search engine. But once you know the meaning behind it, it actually makes sense. The name Dogpile comes from the act of rugby players all piling one on top of the other in rugby.
Much like a dogpile in rugby, the Dogpile search engine uses metasearch technology to bring all the best results into one easy-to-access place.
By pulling in search data from multiple leading search engines into one place, Dogpile’s meta search engine offers a vast variety of search results. This lets you get more information and discover new websites from just one search — Rather than doing multiple searches across different platforms.
While Dogpile may be a treasure trove of information, it isn’t the best looking search engine. The SERPs look dated and the UX isn’t the best. Interrupted with lots of ads and “Are you looking for?” suggestions, the idea behind Dogpile is great but the usability could be better.
If you often search multiple sites before finding an answer you’re happy with, give Dogpile a try.
Board Reader
Board Reader is a specialised search engine that indexes results from forums and message boards. I like how innovative this is compared to the other search engines out there.
By aggregating results from forums and message boards, Board Reader is a great search engine to have in your tool stack when doing online research.
From a business perspective, this is helpful when doing online research, analysing reviews, monitoring customer sentiment, or conducting digital PR research. As an everyday user, you’ll likely also enjoy Board Reader when trying to get reviews, experiences, or opinions before you buy something online.
Board Reader has a simple UI, which works well when wanting to conduct distraction-free research. However, the nature of Board Reader means it won’t have the same search depth as the likes of Google.
While Google may have recently announced they will be showing more Reddit conversations in search results, Board Reader are ahead of the curve having already developed a forum-specific search engine.
If you’re someone who finds yourself putting “reddit” at the end of your Google searches, you might like Board Reader.
Brave Search
Brave Search is similar to DuckDuckGo in the sense that it’s also a private search engine. Brave used to rely on Google and Bing to produce image search results. Now, Brave has built its own index. This means Brave can independently serve results without relying on the leading search engines.
When searching on Brave, you will find suggestions to find answers to your search query on Google, Bing, or Mojeek. This feature is part of Brave’s transition to no longer being dependent on leading search engines while still giving users the chance to search elsewhere if they wish.
Brave is also trying to make search smarter with generative search features. When you search something, Brave shares an AI generated summariser, along with other rich features such as Discussions, People Also Asked, and Videos. They have also developed a built-in AI assistant for their search results.
If you’re someone who likes to be at the cutting edge of tech, you might enjoy Brave’s more experimental versions:
- Brave Nightly – the testing and development version of Brave Search
- Brave Beta – an early preview for new versions of Brave Search
One downside of Brave’s search engine is the limited browser extension support. With a wide product range, active community, and transparent release notes, it looks like the team behind Brave are always innovating. They’re definitely one to keep your eye on.
SEO considerations of using an alternative search engine
As an SEO Executive, I can’t leave without discussing the SEO implications of using a different search engine.
If you’re creating user-first content, it won’t matter which search engine your pages appear in. Taking a people-first approach to your SEO strategy will give your content the best chance of appearing in SERPs, across all known (or unknown) search engines.
The only search engine where you may want to consider an alternative SEO strategy would be Board Reader. As Board Reader pulls results from forums, appearing in SERPs for this search engine will rely on you being active in community forums and message boards. As long as you have a strong user generated content (UGC) strategy, an active community, or get involved in forum discussions, you should be okay.
As for conducting SEO research, I can definitely see value in using some of these unknown search engines for gathering information in the research stages of content creation or user and competitor analysis.
Opening the door for new ways to search
There we have it. There are lots of ways you can find information other than just using Google. Don’t turn a blind eye to all the other options that exist. You just may uncover a hidden gem by searching for information outside of Google.
As well as trying some of these unknown search engines, be open to the idea of using other platforms to conduct searches too. TikTok, Amazon, Pinterest, and YouTube are just some of the other avenues people use when searching for answers to their queries.
Remember, user behaviour is changing. As such, so is the way we search.
