7 alternative search engines to Google

When it comes to the web, it’s very hard to escape Google. After all, the American search giant can be found everywhere, and we count on it to answer (almost) all our questions.

Who do you ask when you’re looking for a lasagna recipe? Google! And when you want to try a new restaurant, who do you trust? Google reviews, of course!

Google’s domination is so great that using the search engine has almost become a reflex for most of us. But there is more than Google out there. Many other alternatives exist. For the sake of curiosity, and before we get to the heart of the matter, take a moment and try to name 5 search engines other than Google. Not easy, is it?

Today, with the help of experts from the SEO agency My Little Little Big Web, we will review 7 alternative search engines to Google. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Bing, the next best search engine… by a longshot

First on our list is Bing. This search engine belongs to Microsoft. It is the most widely used in the world after Google, even if its market share is far from comparable to Google’s.

Bing’s results are provided by Yahoo! Whereas Google offers us a simple, refined interface without any gimmicks, Bing delivers a slightly more imaginative look, which is constantly evolving. When you log in, Bing will sometimes display a picture of an animal and at other times, you will be welcomed by a beautiful nature scene.

Bing is interesting for video search because it displays the request as a thumbnail that can be previewed by hovering over the image. If you didn’t already know, Bing also offers a rewards program. Yup! The points you earn can be redeemed for gift cards and other items.

DuckDuckGo for privacy protection

After Bing, we turn to DuckDuckGo. This search engine is one of the only ones that grew its market share in 2019.

DuckDuckGo is gaining popularity, not least because it is one of the best Google alternatives. How does it stand out, you may ask? While ducklings always follow their mother, DuckDuckGo never follows you. Indeed, your privacy is guaranteed with it. You can even add the DuckDuckGo extension to your browser to keep your activities 100% confidential. This increased level of privacy also means that no advertising will bother you, ever!

DuckDuckGo also has a feature called “Bangs”. Bangs allows you to directly search for information on a specific site. How does it work? It’s quite simple. Just add an exclamation mark to your request. For example, by typing !Wikipedia Lewis Hamilton, you will directly access the British runner’s Wikipedia page. In terms of the Web, the fewer clicks, the better the user experience is, and in this respect, DuckDuckGo delivers the goods.

Yahoo! A forerunner that hasn’t fared so well

Yahoo! is another popular search engine, even if it is far behind Google. Yahoo! has been around for quite some time. In fact, it arrived online long before Google’s infancy.

But since its launch, Yahoo! hasn’t fared so well and, although it closely follows Bing, it’s really not as popular as its rival.

Despite this, the Yahoo! platform is still interesting. All in all, it is a rather effective news aggregator. Not only that, but it also offers a messaging service, an online store, a games centre, a travel directory and much more. It is also available in 38 languages. In short, even if its glory days are behind it, Yahoo! offers a complete experience that is appreciated by its users.

Qwant: a pretty good search engine

Now that we have covered the top 3 most popular search engines after Google, we are reaching the depths of the web, where there are a host of other lesser known search engines.

Let’s start with Qwant, a search engine based in France. Like DuckDuckGo, Qwant claims to never collect your personal data for advertising purposes.

Qwant’s interface is visually appealing. Nice colors, pretty logo. In a nutshell, you feel like typing a request. All search results are displayed in three categories: On the Web, News and Social.

The On the Web section displays the different pages related to your request. The News section provides you with the latest news related to your research, while the Social category tells you who is discussing this topic on social networks.

Qwant also uses a quick search function where you only have to enter “&” in front of a site’s name to access it directly. Do the test with &Wikipedia Lewis Hamilton and you will get the same result as DuckDuckGo.

Swisscows: Filter content to protect children

Let’s go a little further into unknown territory and take a closer look at another search engine: Swisscows.

As its name suggests, Swisscows is based in Switzerland. At least, the majority of its servers are. And what is the point of Swisscows, you may ask?

This search engine is very popular with parents who want to protect their children from pornographic and violent content. Swisscows has a filter that automatically excludes this type of web content.

Furthermore, this Google alternative doesn’t store your personal data, IP address, IDs and requests. With Swisscows, privacy is guaranteed.

Visually, Swisscows is quite interesting. When you type a query, it displays a word map related to your search subject. This word map creates an interactive search experience that is not found elsewhere. Go try it out. It’s not bad at all!

Search Encrypt: rely on a partner network to deliver the goods

Let’s leave Switzerland and head over to Search Encrypt. Like some of the other search engines we have reviewed so far, Search Encrypt is committed to protecting the privacy and protection of your personal data. The proof: it automatically erases your search history after 15 minutes of inactivity, which can be useful if you have several people sharing the same computer or if you use a computer in an internet cafe, for example.

This search engine works differently than some other search engines. As a meta-search engine, Search Encrypt draws its information from several general search engines. More than 23 million users make use of it every day. That’s almost as much as the population of Canada! So, even though it isn’t one of the major players, Search Encrypt holds a significant place on the market.

Russians take over the web with Yandex

While the Americans and the Swiss have developed different search engines, the Russians can also boast of having one. Introducing Yandex, a 100% Russian search engine with a total market share of about 60% in the territory of the largest country in the world.

Although it is very popular in Russia, Yandex is also widely used in Europe and it can even boast of being the 5th most popular search engine in the world. Like Google, Yandex provides a range of services such as mobile applications, a web browser, a map, a translator, analysis tools, a direct mail service and even cloud storage.

While nothing stunning, Yandex’s look is neat and the layout of the search results is similar to Google. However, if the protection of your data and privacy is a priority, you will probably want to use a different search engine.

Viable alternative search engines to Google

While using Google has become a reflex, it would be easy to overlook the many alternatives to this search engine, which, let’s not forget, have not always been available.

Some of you will probably remember Netscape, which, like a T-Rex, once dominated the online sphere. And who knows, one of the search engines we just reviewed may overtake Google in the coming years? After all, when it comes to the web, the more it changes, the less it is the same!

To learn more about the world of the web, visit the blog section of My Little Big Web, and to capitalize on a rock-solid digital strategy, contact us.

Eugénie Delhaye

Cofondatrice et Spécialiste Marketing Internet et Référencement Naturel (SEO) Ma maîtrise des techniques de référencement, combinée à une analyse minutieuse des tendances du marché, me permet de créer des stratégies SEO sur mesure, efficaces et durables.