The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines

January 29, 2007 / 104 comments

The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines

Written by Charles S. Knight, SEO, and edited by Richard MacManus. The Top 100 is listed at the end of the analysis.

Ask anyone which search engine they use to find information on the Internet and they will almost certainly reply: "Google." Look a little further, and market research shows that people actually use four main search engines for 99.99% of their searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com (in that order). But in my travels as a Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), I have discovered that in that .01% lies a vast multitude of the most innovative and creative search engines you have never seen. So many, in fact, that I have had to limit my list of the very best ones to a mere 100.

But it's not just the sheer number of them that makes them worthy of attention; each one of these search engines has that standard "About Us" link at the bottom of the homepage. I call it the "why we're better than Google" page. And after reading dozens and dozens of these pages, I have come to the conclusion that, taken as a whole, they are right!

The Search Homepage

In order to address their claims systematically, it helps to group them into categories and then compare them to their Google counterparts. For example, let's look at the first thing that almost everyone sees when they go to search the Internet - the ubiquitous Google homepage. That famously sparse, clean sheet of paper with the colorful Google logo is the most popular Web page in the entire World Wide Web. For millions and millions of Internet users, that Spartan white page IS the Internet.

Google has successfully made their site the front door through which everyone passes in order to access the Internet. But staring at an almost blank sheet of paper has become, well, boring. Take Ms. Dewey for example. While some may object to her sultry demeanor, it's pretty hard to deny that interfacing with her is far more visually appealing than with an inert white screen.

A second example comes from Simply Google. Instead of squeezing through the keyhole in order to reach Google's 37 search options, Simply Google places all of those choices and many, many more all on the very first page; neatly arranged in columns.

Artificial Intelligence

A second arena is sometimes referred to as Natural Language Processing (NLP), or Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is the desire we all have of wanting to ask a search engine questions in everyday sentences, and receive a human-like answer (remember "Good Morning, HAL"?). Many of us remember Ask Jeeves, the famous butler, which was an early attempt in this direction - that unfortunately failed.

Google's approach, Google Answers, was to enlist a cadre of "experts." The concept was that you would pose a question to one of these experts, negotiate a price for an answer, and then pay up when it was found and delivered. It was such a failure, Google had to cancel the whole program. Enter ChaCha. With ChaCha, you can pose any question that you wish, click on the "Search With Guide" button, and a ChaCha Guide appears in a Chat box and dialogues with you until you find what you are looking for. There's no time limit, and no fee.

Clustering Engines

Perhaps Google's most glaring and egregious shortcoming is their insistence on displaying the outcome of a search in an impossibly long, one-dimensional list of results. We all intuitively know that the World Wide Web is just that, a three dimensional (or "3-D") web of interconnected Web pages. Several search engines, known as clustering engines, routinely present their search results on a two-dimensional map that one can navigate through in search of the best answer. Search engines like KartOO and Quintura are excellent examples.

Recommendation Search Engines

Another promising category is the recommendation search engines. While Google essentially helps you to find what you already know (you just can't find it), recommendation engines show you a whole world of things that you didn't even know existed. Check out What to Rent, Music Map, or the stunning Live Plasma display. When you input a favorite movie, book, or artist, they recommend to you a world of titles or similar artists that you may never have heard of, but would most likely enjoy.

Metasearch Engines

Next we come to the metasearch engines. When you perform a search on Google, the results that you get are all from, well, Google! But metasearch engines have been around for years. They allow you to search not only Google, but a variety of other search engines too - in one fell swoop. There are many search engines that can do this, Dogpile, for instance, searches all of the "big four" mentioned above (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask) simultaneously. You could also try Zuula or PlanetSearch - which plows through 16 search engines at a time for you. A very interesting site to watch is GoshMe. Instead of searching an incredible number of Web pages, like conventional search engines, GoshMe searches for search engines (or databases) that each tap into an incredible number of Web pages. As I perceive it, GoshMe is a meta-metasearch engine (still in Beta)!

Other Alt Search Engines

And so it goes, feature after feature after feature. TheFind is a better shopping experience than Google's Froogle, IMHO. Like is a true visual search engine, unlike Google's Images, which just matches your keywords into images that have been tagged with those same keywords. Coming soon is Mobot (see the Demo at www.mobot.com). Google Mobile does let you perform a search on your mobile phone, but check out the Slifter Mobile Demo when you get a chance!

Finally, almost prophetically, Google is silent. Silent! At least Speeglebot talks to you, and Nayio listens! But of course, why should Google worry about these upstarts (all 100 of them)? Aren't they just like flies buzzing around an elephant? Can't Google just ignore them, as their share of the search market continues to creep upwards towards 100%, or perhaps just buy them? Perhaps.

The Last Question

Issac Asimov, the preeminent science fiction writer of our time, once said that his favorite story, by far, was The Last Question. The question, for those who have not read it, is "Can Entropy Be Reversed?" That is, can the ultimate running down of all things, the burning out of all stars (or their collapse) be stopped - or is it hopelessly inevitable?

The question for this age, I submit, is… "Can Google Be Defeated"? Or is Google's mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" a fait accompli?

Perhaps the place to start is by reading (or re-reading) Asimov's "The Last Question." I won't give it away, but it does suggest The Answer….

Charles Knight is the Principal of Charles Knight SEO, a Search Engine Optimization company in Charlottesville, VA.

The Top 100

For an Excel spreadsheet of the entire Top 100 Alternative Search Engines, go to: http://charlesknightseo.com/list.aspx or email the author at Charles@CharlesKnightSEO.com.

This list is in alphabetical order. Feel free to share this list, but please retain Charles' name and email.

Update: Thanks Sanjeev Narang for providing a hyperlinked version of the list.

Update, 5 February 2007: Charles Knight has left a detailed comment (#94) in response to all the great feedback in the comments to this post. He also notes:

"...while it looks like a very simple, almost crude list of 100 names, it has taken countless hours to try and do it properly and fairly. The list will be updated all year long, and the Top 100 can only get better and better until the Best of 2007 are announced on 12/31/07."

Audio /

digg this /

add to del.icio.us / StumbleUpon

stumble it / Sphere It

TrackBack

» 100 Alternative Search Engines from SpeckBlog
Tracked on January 29, 2007 07:23 AM

» Top 100 alternative Search Engines from The Linkielist
Tracked on January 29, 2007 08:18 AM

» IN Top 100 from CrossEngine Blog
Tracked on January 29, 2007 08:25 AM

» Tired of Googling Around? from Pajamas Media
Tracked on January 29, 2007 10:00 AM

» Combien de moteur de recherche utilisez vous ? from Les logiciels libres à l'UVSQ
Tracked on January 29, 2007 10:31 AM

» Dies und das (29.01) from nXplorer SEO & Marketing Blog
Tracked on January 29, 2007 11:09 AM

» SearchCap: The Day In Search, Jan. 29, 2007 from Search Engine Land: News About Search Engines & Search Marketing
Tracked on January 29, 2007 01:15 PM

» Top 100 de buscadores alternativos from meneame.net
Tracked on January 29, 2007 02:22 PM

» The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines from
Tracked on January 29, 2007 02:47 PM

» The best search engines you never heard of from Gadgets, Gizmos & Widgets
Tracked on January 29, 2007 03:04 PM

» Search the Web beyond Google from Daniel Staemmler
Tracked on January 29, 2007 03:54 PM

» GNC-2007-01-30 #238 from Geek News Central Podcast
Tracked on January 30, 2007 12:41 AM

» The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines from Web Frog
Tracked on January 30, 2007 02:07 PM

» (recherche) > 100 outils de recherche alternatifs from Brainsfeed
Tracked on January 30, 2007 10:17 PM

» Web War Not Won Yet from Read/WriteWeb
Tracked on January 31, 2007 03:02 AM

» you my be surprised at what is out there from GoodShit
Tracked on January 31, 2007 06:34 AM

» Proto Enables Desktop Mashups - Also Giving Away iPods in Mashup Contest from Read/WriteWeb
Tracked on February 1, 2007 03:04 AM

» Yes, there really are other search engines besides Google from Windows Tips and Tricks
Tracked on February 1, 2007 08:28 AM

» Pixsta Visual Search For Shopping Sites from Read/WriteWeb
Tracked on February 2, 2007 04:12 AM

» Bored with Google, try these search engines from Muskblog
Tracked on February 3, 2007 01:43 AM

» Weekly Wrapup from Read/WriteWeb
Tracked on February 5, 2007 01:49 AM

» Modeling relationships: music, why not people? from Uncommon Knowledge.
Tracked on February 6, 2007 08:57 AM

» Les 100 moteurs de recherche alternatifs from www.romanding.ch
Tracked on February 8, 2007 05:58 AM

» Google Search AJAXified from Read/WriteWeb
Tracked on February 10, 2007 03:39 PM

Comments

Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all Read/WriteWeb posts

# 1

Too bad I don't have enough time to figure out if any of these are good enough to use over and above the big four.

I've tried clusty, funny I don't see www.alltheweb.com there?

Posted by: Ali | January 29, 2007 03:55 AM

# 2

Search engine of social networks! Myspace tracking!

http://www.socialgrapes.com

Posted by: Socialgrapes | January 29, 2007 05:42 AM

# 3

Charles, keep up the good work! I plan to showcase a new user interface for our visual search (www.quintura.com) at the Future of Web Applications (FOWA) event in London on February 20 - 22. Stay tuned to our developments! PS I have a question, though. Why is Quintura for Kids not on the list and only a runner-up? :) The service has started being used in some elementary schools after only one month since a beta release.

Posted by: Yakov | January 29, 2007 06:01 AM

# 4

Interesting list. I guess this list is the top 100 AFTER Google, Ask, MSN and Yahoo.
I would have to list Vivisimo above some of the others you have listed here.
I too don't have the time to go through all of them but I'd like to know if any of your top 100 are vertically focussed. I've been following one vertical in particular, health, and I don't see any of the ones I found to be useful.

Posted by: Kossher | January 29, 2007 06:32 AM

# 5

Would have been nice if the list (at the end) had been categoriesed and the urls were links.

Posted by: memals | January 29, 2007 06:52 AM

# 6

That Congoo site has a news channel that blows googles out of the water: http://news.congoo.com

Look at all the channel and sub channels...ive never seen this anywhere.

Posted by: Roger Dwarte | January 29, 2007 07:17 AM

# 7

Richard,

Webwag goes further than any other service by allowing users to search among feeds directly on their personalized page. Webwag has partnered with Yahoo Search Marketing in Europe and the US for keyword-based sponsorlinks. Webwag is thus unique in covering search in both the personal wide web and the world wide web.

Posted by: Franck Poisson | January 29, 2007 07:28 AM

# 8

It would be nice, also, to have a review for each SE in order to compare the weaknesses and strengths of each SE over the competitors.

If every SE provides a Webservice, it would be nice to have a new SE that search in all of these SEs

Nice work,
JP

Posted by: JP | January 29, 2007 07:51 AM

# 9

Just wanted to note MrSapo.com (which is in the list) has been recently re-branded as CrossEngine, the new URL is:
http://www.crossengine.com

Posted by: Juan C. Sosa | January 29, 2007 08:00 AM

# 10

I'd recommend goodsearch.com - although powered by Yahoo, 50% of it's revenue goes to a charity you specify. a nice concept worth being on this list

Posted by: aop | January 29, 2007 08:16 AM

# 11

Search engines are great, but sometimes social q&a gives better results. I have to suggest answerbag.com for the list, since it technically does have an internal search engine for the existing Q&A.

Posted by: Jonathan Haddad | January 29, 2007 08:18 AM

# 12

For power searching and research we use http://www.ihound.com. I would recommend that for the list.

Posted by: ab | January 29, 2007 08:32 AM

# 13

I tried out ChaCha Search, but I've found it so uncomfortable! My initial search didn't turn up any results. I guess it is interesting that someone will search through the web with you... but I find it akin to someone talking to you while you're talking a piss!

Posted by: Mike Murkovic | January 29, 2007 08:35 AM

# 14

Ehy it's not yoople.com....it's www.yoople.net

Yoople! Collaborative Web Search

Posted by: carlo | January 29, 2007 08:50 AM

# 15

you should also check out majestic12, a distributed search engine....

http://www.majestic12.co.uk/

Posted by: zx81 | January 29, 2007 08:56 AM

# 16

Very interesting...apart from Ms. Dewey not realizing that I had typed in my request, the results returned across the board was pretty good.

The problem here is that you have such dominant players especially Google that I can't see how they will make up ground. Also Google is developing, improving and acquiring all the time...it's really a difficult ask...

Posted by: Adrian Keys | January 29, 2007 08:57 AM

# 17

Don't trust the makers of Blinkx:

Look here

Posted by: Derek Rafferty | January 29, 2007 09:03 AM

# 18

Wow can't believe you left off www.swamii.com.

Everybody here uses it - maybe its just us Australians ;)

Posted by: OzPete | January 29, 2007 09:27 AM

# 19

swoogle, in spite of its name, doesn't perform generic searches. I looks through the Sematic Web (hence the sw), looking both for definitions of terms and for ontologies (networks of terms and definitions)

Posted by: JuandeSant | January 29, 2007 09:37 AM

# 20

How is Congoo able to give free access to Wall Street Journal and Mornignstar etc? This seems a bit napsterish to me, why would these pulishers allow this??

Posted by: Jennifer Lowenstein | January 29, 2007 10:01 AM

# 21

booble.com

just searches porno images and sites - i heard this on the howard stern show, making me slightly less of a pervert -

but it is different nonetheless.

Posted by: aop | January 29, 2007 10:03 AM

# 22

Keep an eye on Google's custom search engines. One of these are bound to hit the tipping point and become popular. Once this happens it will be interesting to see what Google will do. Will they create a link on their front page to a list of the best custom search engines? Will they place a link on some of their most popular sites to custom search engines? Will they give sites that are indexed on a custom search engine a boost in the search algorithm.

I made a custom search engine (mapshark.com) that indexes mapping sites and mashups. The search results return links to maps and mashups only. The index includes over 700 sites. My goal is to see Google link to this custom search engine on their Google Maps page. We'll see.

Posted by: Andrew Mitton | January 29, 2007 10:06 AM

# 23

You forgot to mention the first people search engine, peekyou.com...linking people around the world to the web pages related to and created by them. Another difference is that any person's search results are editable by anyone else (in a wiki-type fashion) for continual improvement of the experience.

Posted by: peepsalot | January 29, 2007 10:36 AM

# 24

[...]The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines[...]

Posted by: Top Ten Search Engine Lists | January 29, 2007 10:42 AM

# 25

Where's Altavista ? Why wasn't that on the list?

Posted by: Mark | January 29, 2007 10:43 AM

# 26

To ALL: The correct URL for Yoople! is www.yoople.net

Check it out!

Posted by: Charles Knight | January 29, 2007 11:09 AM

# 27

What about the mother of all search engines? www.mamma.com Hopefully they will get bought soon so their stock will have some value.....

Posted by: p5surf | January 29, 2007 11:52 AM

# 28

LV Gucci Chanel Chloe Fendi Prada Handbag On Sale:

http://www.iChic.cn

Posted by: www.iChic.cn | January 29, 2007 11:53 AM

# 29

I thought the Open Directory Project (http://dmoz.org) was conspicuously absent. One of the things I always appreciated about Yahoo! was that it was a directory, not just a search engine. Often I would find something useful that I didn't know existed (like a recommendation engine) simply by browsing through the category I was looking at. Yahoo! is no longer much of a directory; fortunately Open Directory has stepped up to the plate.

Posted by: Todd B. | January 29, 2007 12:05 PM

# 30

Exalead is a joke. I think exalead is pretty wak and very arrogant too.

The frenchies are jealous of the American search engines and success and lately the exalead ceo critized Google and all the other major search engines at the french search engine strategies.

I can't stand them, so use everything but exalead, they are way too pathetic. Using them will be an insult to my intelligence.

Posted by: James | January 29, 2007 12:40 PM

# 31

Where is altavista? www.altavista.com

Posted by: 8lights | January 29, 2007 12:46 PM

# 32

This is a great list, especially the top few. I don't really know about digg.com being up there. It's not exactly what I think of as a search engine.

Posted by: josh | January 29, 2007 12:51 PM

# 33

You missed the Carrot (carrot.cs.put.poznan.pl) - give it a try!

Posted by: Wojciech Jaskowski | January 29, 2007 12:54 PM

# 34

Nice list. These social bookmarking sites are really gaining momentum.

Posted by: Nate | January 29, 2007 01:02 PM

# 35

Last time I saw this list, it included our human-powered search site Bessed.

We've only been live since October---have we been demoted already?

Posted by: Adam Jusko | January 29, 2007 01:19 PM

# 36

C'mon a list of URLs that are not active hyperlinks ?? Only old-media companies like TimeWarner do that so that people won't leave their site! And then a jump to another page to click another link to download the Excel sheet ... ReadWrite can do much better.

Posted by: eConsultant | January 29, 2007 01:55 PM

# 37

Where in the world is technorati? It's only the greatest blog search engine available.

Posted by: Derek Brown | January 29, 2007 02:16 PM

# 38

I tried liveplasma.com and it does not work on my mac. Many web 2.0 companies could improve their chances of success by doing basic testing of their user interfaces and not excluding major segments of the population.

The only true revolution on the web horizon is the new Wiki search. This will not be a Google killer, but it will generate significant traffic on its own and be a great compliment to Google search.

Posted by: CVOS | January 29, 2007 02:32 PM

# 39

thanks for the mention, and please send in any feedback you might have on http://www.pluggd.com

Posted by: drew olanoff | January 29, 2007 02:50 PM

# 40

Nice to see a well-rounded list with many new sites to try. Next time around you might consider www.boardreader.com. We have been providing search to message board communities since 2001 and just did a major upgrade late last year.

Posted by: Pat McMahon | January 29, 2007 04:03 PM

# 41

Another one for the list Tall Street a 100% user ranked search engine.

Posted by: Tallstreet | January 29, 2007 04:19 PM

# 42

Nice list, I get tired just reading it!

Posted by: David Dalka | January 29, 2007 04:26 PM

# 43

I really like www.eluta.ca, which I saw mentioned on your site a few months ago. It's a Canadian-specific search engine for jobs, but I haven't seen another one like it.

Posted by: Jane S. | January 29, 2007 04:26 PM

# 44

Ok, what the heck, I'll throw in a commercial, too --

I have a client that has a specialized search engine that only searches for low-priced prescription drugs. If you don't have insurance that covers your prescriptions, it's a pretty useful tool.

Posted by: scott | January 29, 2007 04:26 PM

# 45

OK, I can't type. It's www.edrugsearch.com.

Posted by: scott | January 29, 2007 04:28 PM

# 46

How about www.vdoogle.com, great for finding videos

Posted by: Nick | January 29, 2007 04:29 PM

# 47

Good to know! Thank You!

Posted by: Shareware Software | January 29, 2007 04:34 PM

# 48

What about go2?

Posted by: Billy | January 29, 2007 04:36 PM

# 49

Note: I've updated the www.yoople.net link.

Also re #36, apologies for the non-hyperlinks on the top 100 list. I had a lot of difficulty copying and pasting from Excel without the formatting going haywire. I'll see if I can fix that so it has links....

Posted by: Richard MacManus | January 29, 2007 04:52 PM

# 50

Surprised none of the search engines that benefit charity made the list. Even Oprah gave them a mention a while back:)

eg. http://www.goodsearch.com (Yahoo powered) and http://www.jikolp.com (Google powered)

Posted by: Brian | January 29, 2007 04:54 PM

# 51

good list, cluxr is ok but not as good as advertised.

Posted by: moreaff | January 29, 2007 05:40 PM

# 52

nice list!

Legit Get Paid To surf

Posted by: get paid | January 29, 2007 05:57 PM

# 53

Guys, come on now, you could do a better job than just listing some names. Some are not even search engines. You need to seperate single applications that work with seach engines from the engines themselevs. As for the categories, they too could be better defined, particularly the new area of social search engines and social applications.

Sproose /ceo

Posted by: Bob Pack | January 29, 2007 06:26 PM

# 54

You are missing blogsaic off the list found at http://www.blogsaic.com/

Posted by: dazza | January 29, 2007 06:28 PM

# 55

Here's google search in black - http://google-black.blogspot.com - hosted by google, search powered by google.

Posted by: google-black | January 29, 2007 06:36 PM

# 56

AOL a search engine? No no no...a search engine is something that has it's own spider, creates it's own index, and has it's own searchable database. This list isn't valid! Many of these even mix results from multiple engines! Calling most of these "search engines" is like calling Browzar a browser.

Revise your list, post links to their spider info pages, and list their useragent and you might gain a shred of credibility with those who know what they're talking about.

Posted by: John A. Bilicki III | January 29, 2007 06:51 PM

# 57

Update: the list is now hyperlinked, thanks to Sanjeev Narang from www.eConsultant.com

Posted by: Richard MacManus | January 29, 2007 07:40 PM

# 58

Check out Mobile Search from 411Sync !!!
(http://www.411Sync.com)

Posted by: Ajay | January 29, 2007 08:32 PM

# 59

Without forgetting Keotag and Gnoos!
http://www.keotag.com/
http://gnoos.com.au/

Posted by: Eric (Netwizz) | January 29, 2007 11:43 PM

# 60

I've no axe to grind here at all (don't particularly rate them or anything)... but wondered why no mention of Accoona?

Posted by: Linton | January 30, 2007 02:06 AM

# 61

Abou Nawas Tunis Hotel
Abou Nawas Tunis hotel offers online reservation for groups and the business traveler alike.
Great incentives in this unique five star luxury hotel, located in the heart of Tunis business district, Only seven minutes from the Tunis Carthage International Airport.

Posted by: Akram | January 30, 2007 03:28 AM

# 62

I would still stick to Google..

Posted by: ilker | January 30, 2007 03:45 AM

# 63

Useful list but you missed some of really important search engine such: live and altavista! Is Digg a search engine?

Posted by: ows | January 30, 2007 03:49 AM

# 64

Thanks for your great article.
May I suggest you take a look to our new projet :
http://www.wasalive.com

Posted by: Wasalive | January 30, 2007 04:50 AM

# 65

Hi, I am the author of the article and the keeper of the list.
Already I have made changes to the list based upon the good feedback that I have received. For your copy of the *latest*
version, just send me an email at: Charles@CharlesKnightSEO.com

The file you receive will be a little more helpful as it includes: Search Engines not reviewed yet, some mobile search engines, Search Engines in Stealth Mode-not yet released, and the list of the Search Engines that did not make the Top 100.

Posted by: Charles Knight | January 30, 2007 05:11 AM

# 66

It's a useful list I wouldn't really call some of these search engines (eg. del.icio.us and digg).

I don't really suppose you can cover them in a list of just 100, but I think some of the most useful search engines out there are the niche-specific ones.

eg.
Aardvark Business for business searches
Aardvark Sport for sports searches
Aardvark Travel for travel searches

Paul

Posted by: Paul | January 30, 2007 06:33 AM

# 67

Google, Yahoo and MSN control more than 90% market search and they are enough for user search needs.

Posted by: Venkata Krishna Nalamothu | January 30, 2007 06:54 AM

# 68

#101 http://bleebot.com

Posted by: Roy | January 30, 2007 07:02 AM

# 69

Hi Charles,

You missed us as well:-) www.hakia.com

Posted by: melek pulatkonak | January 30, 2007 07:09 AM

# 70

One french more : http://www.seek.fr/

Posted by: cyberny | January 30, 2007 07:45 AM

# 71

What about me: Ask Vox

Posted by: Vox | January 30, 2007 09:52 AM

# 72

Thanks for the list, a lot of them I didn't know of. I will check them all.

Posted by: Seo Best Practices | January 30, 2007 10:01 AM

# 73

Shameless plug: LuckyBbutton is a cool "metaquery" engine that is easy to use and points to most of the top engines.

Posted by: chad | January 30, 2007 12:27 PM

# 74

Extensive list of alternatives that reminds us that Google is not the only search option - or results provider. Thanks for the list!
Barbara Rozgonyi

Posted by: Barbara Rozgonyi | January 30, 2007 01:49 PM

# 75

good work
keep it up.
if possible plz create a list of blog networks as well and if you have a list mail me at akshayfeedster@gmail.com

Posted by: akshay | January 30, 2007 05:01 PM

# 76

good work problogger,keep it up.
if possible please create a list of blog networks as well and if you have a list mail me at akshayfeedster@gmail.com

Posted by: akshay | January 30, 2007 05:01 PM

# 77

Folks, AlltheWeb and AltaVista now show Yahoo results as they were bought by Yahoo a few years back.

I really like the smaller search engines. One that has been around for awhile is IntelSeek.com, and a newer one is http://www.searchbigdaddy.com/cohwill .

Posted by: Anita Cohen-Williams | January 30, 2007 05:06 PM

# 78

Very few of the sites listed has any (real)business model oriented around it.
I would like to introduce http://www.people2meet.com. Is in the process of creating a unique database and is working to
be the Google of people search.
Currently based in India and I'm looking for partners to help me take this model to the US.

Posted by: people2meet.com | January 30, 2007 09:46 PM

# 79

Great post,

Hopefully we'll be up there in the future :) ..

http://www.Voysage.com/ is a travel recommendation engine based in Australia. We're working on some hyperlocal stuff at the moment, but should be alive and kicking sometime mid-year.

Posted by: voysage.com | January 31, 2007 03:17 AM

# 80

to know the latest updates

Posted by: prasad | January 31, 2007 03:13 PM

# 81

www.trovando.it is a search tool that saves your time and makes your Web searches easy.
With trovando you only need enter keywords once, to access and compare results from 250+ search engines across 10 categories (Web, Images, Reference, Tag, News, Price, Blogs, AudioVideo, Torrent, URL), by simply clicking on the engine’s name.
No more retyping of URLs and keywords into different search engines.

In the custom section you can add 3300+ search engine from mycroft archives, and save the customization with a bookmarklet, without registration!

Posted by: Trovando | January 31, 2007 04:19 PM

# 82

Many directory type search sites are coming up as well. Personally I like to see the thumbnail of the website I am about to visit which Alexa I believed used to do. If you search on http://yourhotsearch.com for example, you can see what I mean. Also, there are many research based nich search sites (mostly in the Education field) that are have stuff not indexed by the main search engines.

Posted by: CK | January 31, 2007 06:10 PM

# 83

U forgot to mention another usefull search tool

http://webring.com

Posted by: ramtrax_2k2 | February 1, 2007 05:15 AM

# 84

ww.360View4U.co.uk - An Information Warehouse(Financial, Company, Executive Information) for Business, Market, Industry Research and Analysis,

Posted by: Shashank Garg | February 1, 2007 06:11 AM

# 85

Keep 'em coming people... Thanks for all the good concepts and choices!!

Posted by: AD | February 1, 2007 07:03 AM

# 86

you missed search engines for FTP search
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DVXA,DVXA:2006-50,DVXA:en&q=ftp+search+engine

Posted by: tumne | February 1, 2007 08:19 AM

# 87

I use Google for all my Internet searches and I can honestly say that it is by far one of the best search engines I've come across. It is also the most accessible I've found to date. I use a screen reader to access my computer, and Google has really done a nice job making their site as screen reader-friendly as possible. Even their visual verification appears to be accessible. But one of the reasons I find Google to be very accessible, I suppose, is www.google.com/ie , and the recently-implemented labs.google.com/accessible . The latter has headings which make navigating the site with a screen reader a breeze. I've also heard good things about ChaCha.

Posted by: Jake | February 2, 2007 10:26 AM

# 88

Can you include the Gotuit.com InVideo search in the list - it searches for points inside of videos posted to online video sites.

Posted by: David | February 2, 2007 11:10 AM

# 89

seems wonderful.
when I have time, I will try these search engines one by one. type the key word "laser", for example.

Posted by: chenbo | February 2, 2007 09:30 PM

# 90

Charles,

There is a new international search engine coming up, it will it will be available in 45 languages.

I am talking about Megaglobe, they have a new patent pending technology on their sponsor results, it's called "Pay per valid click" and it is designed to eradicate click fraud.

They are members of the IAB.

I believe Megaglobe is a serious threat to Google and Yahoo because they have so many patent like the "Placement frequency program", "Search rewards" ect...

There are few press releases about them and the Beta testing should start in just few days.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=megaglobe&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&tab=wn&filter=0

Posted by: John | February 3, 2007 09:56 AM

# 91

The Top 100 Alternative Search Engine Rankings

Posted by: The Top 100 Alternative Search Engine Rankings | February 4, 2007 07:11 PM

# 92

Don't forget Extate - the real estate search engine

http://extate.com

Posted by: sharpshoot | February 5, 2007 04:26 AM

# 93

I also add another real estate french site : www.ggimmo.com

Posted by: Papuli | February 5, 2007 07:50 AM

# 94

Notes on my Top 100 Alternative Search Engines list:

Hakia wasn't missed: It's under Search Engines in Stealth Mode - not yet launched! Isn't that correct?

AlltheWeb? You can only have so many Metasearch engines.

MySpace? (Searching Social Networking sites? - maybe.)

Quintura for Kids, Zoo.com, SuperKids, et al are missing because my audience-adults-are just not "wow"-ed by them.

Vivisimo = Clusty, which is on the list.

Yes, the list does not have Yahoo!, MSN, or Ask.com

Specialty verticals: Real Estate (Zillow) Health (Helia)et al are not listed; they could/should be their own "Top 100 Vertical Search Engines."

A Search Engine that searches Search Engines? Try GoshMe (www.goshme.com)GoshMe is one to watch this year, IMHO.

GoodSearch is an also ran. Nice idea, but not much more.

Answerbag, Askville, Yahoo! Answers, Live QnA, all have one flaw, the quality of the answers are all over the map.

http://www.ihound.com will have to be checked out!

www.yoople.com is really www.yoople.net . My bad!

majestic12 will be checked out, also.

Re: Google is developing all of the time. Yes, and they
developed Google (Expert) Answers - a tremendous flop. Surely this shows that Google is not infallible.

Will check out www.swamii.com and peekyou.com; maybe mapshark should be revisited...

AltaVista? Cutting edge? The best choices are entirely new in 2006, or at least have a cool new feature in 2006.

www.mamma.com - again, only so many metasearch engines...

http://dmoz.org? got to think about that one!

The Carrot is known, just not on the Top 100 list (yet?)

Bessed has come and gone, but I will check it again!

Technorati? Will check www.boardreader.com and TallStreet
and www.eluta.ca, and also www.vdoogle.com.

Ah! go2 - see the Top 100 Mobile Search Engines! ;-)

Re: The comment from Sproose, #53, is well taken, as are all 93 comments. All feedback serves the common good by making the list more complete, accurate and refined.

Blog search: www.blogsaic.com?

For Mr. Biliki (#56) - Rather than use a stricter definition of what is a Search Engine, I would much rather
expand upon the title of the list to something like:
"The Top 100 Search Engines and/or Search Related Applications": would that be better?

Mobile search www.411Sync.com; mobile deserves it's own list.

Suggested: www.keotag.com and www.gnoos.com.au Thanks!

Accoona? Maybe. www.wasalive.com to be evaluated

Thanks for http://bleebot.com

International sites should get their own list I think.

Ask Vox needs to be looked up - and LuckyButton - and
IntelSeek.com and Searchbigdaddy.com/cohwill

People Search? www.people2meet.com. See also ZabaSearch

Travel site: www.Voysage.com see: Specific Industries list
(when there is one)

Search tool www.trovando.com? Must take a look at that one.

http://yourhotsearch.com? http://webring.com?

Author's note: Technically I did not "forget" to include many of these - in so many cases I did not know about them until I had the benefit of these comments! Thanks!

www.360view4U.co.uk is another. FTP search? Code Search?

www.gotuit.com for Video search? That's another one.

Megaglobe is already on my list as one to be watched.

Extate - see comments on industry-specific search engines, or comments on "foreign" search engines like www.ggimmo.com

Finally, just for the record; any faults in this list are mine alone. All comments are welcome, even if all sites cannot be included. And while it looks like a very simple, almost crude list of 100 names, it has taken countless hours to try and do it properly and fairly. The list will be updated all year long, and the Top 100 can only get better and better until the Best of 2007 are announced on 12/31/07.

You can always request the latest version by sending me an email at: Charles@CharlesKnightSEO.com Thanks to all!

Posted by: Charles Knight | February 5, 2007 12:03 PM

# 95

DAM YOU CHARLES, I AM READING ALL THE COMMENTS CAREFULLY, JUST TO FIND OUT YOU SUMMARIZED THEM ALL IN THE LAST COMMENT.

---
---
---

Well off the bat, thank you Charles for the article and thank you Richard for this blog.

If you guys plan to continue the search research, I have a 1000+ search engines that I have noted and I am sure you guys have more. I would actually like to see someone create a Search Engine Database similar to the functionality of Alexa. It would be a search marketers dream and it would be useful for those who are powersearching. The only form of revenue I could conceive would be ad revenue. I am sure you guys have thought of this already and if I had time I would work on it, but who has the time. I just thought I mention it because it seems like you guys have a bigger passion for search engines and to encourage because if you build it they will come ....

As far as the most creative search engines on that list, I definitely like the one were you point a device and search, the search engine where you hum to find a song, and the search engine that talks back to you. They are very creative.

As far as the comments go, the award goes to BOOBLE.com, just on the name alone. I actually did not check out the website, but the description of the commenter makes the name very creative and funny.

I am definelty a powersearcher and as far as search engines go Google by far is the dominator for me.

Believe it or not the second search engine I use the most is IMDB.com.

But of all the recent search engines that are not only creative but useful, Delicious.com takes the award and I hope Yahoo is smart enough to integrate that service as is without screwing it up like it has with flickr. Delicious is just awesome.

This is probably the best search engine blog out there, because it provides good analysis. Keep up the good work.

Oh ya, and answers.com. That makes my top four list.

----
----
----

Posted by: John Doe | February 6, 2007 03:21 AM

# 96

Incredibly valuable information.
ThanQ

Posted by: Inter-Dev | February 6, 2007 09:59 AM

# 97

Maybe our search engine www.eDrugSearch.com will make the top 100 next year. For those of you that don't know we are a consumer healthcare portal that brings together the world’s most highly respected online pharmacies through a free, easy-to-use search engine.

Our site’s database currently includes more than 35,000 drug listings, with plans to grow to more than 100,000 listings by Spring 2007 — making it by far the most comprehensive resource of its kind. eDrugSearch.com advocates licensed online pharmacies as a safe and widely accepted alternative for those seeking the cost benefits, enhanced privacy, relative convenience, and increased access to generic drugs made possible by ordering prescription drugs online.

By the way I really like the Talkr.com audio link...I think I'm going to add it to our blog @ www.edrugsearch.com/edsblog.

Thanks for the info!

-Cary Byrd

Posted by: eDrugSearch.com | February 6, 2007 04:27 PM

# 98

Great list, it's going to take me a while to go through it, and thanks for the updates.

Posted by: Beginners SEO Guide | February 7, 2007 06:53 AM

# 99

Great post, did you active content on the Internet is approaching 900 billion pages. The largest search engines, had indexed just 50 billion pages. If you really need to find information you may need to search deep, try this out its a beta and already has lots to offer.

multi search is available by 2try4.com ;

Its simple for beginners, allowing advanced users to manage complex multiple searches such as;
Notice the !web tag in every search! change it for one of these;

!images
!video
!meta

Then click PASS and see what happens! There's lots of other features too.

So guess how I fond this post?

Posted by: Les | February 9, 2007 09:15 AM

# 100

Excellent article.

I wonder how many of these alternative search engines are here to stay. I'm certainly looking forward to the updates.

Posted by: RC | February 9, 2007 10:49 AM

# 101

Juan (comment 9)

I just discovered CrossEngine too. It Rocks. I combined it with Netvibes: that makes an excellent personalised page.
Screenshot on http://zbdigitaal.blogspot.com/2007/02/zoekmachine-crossengine-maakt.html
(Dutch)

Posted by: Edwin | February 10, 2007 05:14 PM

# 102

Quality List! I concur!

Posted by: Submit MD | February 11, 2007 12:14 PM

# 103

see http://enginepuller.com

Posted by: Ribin | February 11, 2007 10:00 PM

# 104

How about: http://www.authoratory.com ?

Posted by: Pavels | February 12, 2007 07:05 PM