A new Top 100 Alternative Search Engines list!
By Guest Author M.E. Simpson
Original article appeared here, 6/14/09:
http://www.altsearchengines.com/2009/06/19/a-new-top-100-alternative-search-engines-list/
“Everyone should print, bookmark, digg or tweet this excellent resource.” -editor
While conducting the research and search engine checking I did while compiling this very eclectic list of search engines, directories, tools and stuff related, I realized that there are some very competitive trends in a few directions. The most prominent of these seems to be the effort to create the most artificially intelligent NLP, or Natural Language Process, that can be utilized in a search engine. More and more, search engines are looking for ways to create technology which “understands” context, synonyms, meanings, inverted phrases, and more – and well, most of them have been pretty successful at it.
Another trend I noticed is the emphasis on search results produced in “real-time,” and I am still not sure I grasp that concept…I mean, aren’t all results delivered in real time? What other kind of time is there? Is there like, unreal time? When a search result pops up after I’ve input a search term, that time sure feels real to me….even more real at 3a.m, after working on an article for the past 9 hours, when my butt has turned numb, and my neck feels like it’s in a vice. But yes, there is a newer method of finding fresher, more immediately published material on a continually updated basis – which search engines are now capable of retrieving. This is especially true with news, blog, and social search engines, all which serve a more immediate need for currency, trends, and “what’s hot.”
That being said, I feel I must apologize, because the following list is a bit helter-skelter. It begins with some search engines from a list that was provided to me by the very alternative-search-engine knowledgeable Charles Knight, so that I could include some of the newest and most popular search engines – many of which still seem to be undergoing construction and additions. This is not an alphabetized list, nor even a categorized list, but simply listed in the order that I searched and found each search engine, directory, or whatever. The newest ones are first, some of the middle or semi-recent alternative search engines are in the middle - also thanks to Charles Knight - and then some of the older favorites are last. Although, you may find that even this is not entirely a perfect list description either.
I hope this list helps anyone looking for stuff they can’t find. Though I had a decent idea of what kind of alternative search engines are out there, I learned some things myself. Have fun looking them all up; some are extremely useful and save a lot of time on specific searches, some of them really are amazing, and others are just plain cool. I have at least 30 of these saved on my own favorites list, and all of them are worthwhile.
Some Newer Search Engines:
1. One Riot.com is one of the coolest and best new social search engines that searches the web in real time. Users find the freshest and newest social news, blogs and videos on OneRiot, because this real time search engine delivers results as they emerge.
2. Bing.com – in the course of writing this article, Bing went from almost ready to fully available as a search engine. It is what Microsoft is calling a “Decision engine,” fully equipped with intuitive features that will deliver more relevant and faster results for your “decision-making.” Like many other new search engines and sites, Bing can answer direct questions, such as “What is the capital of Moldova?” It can also differentiate synonyms and is equipped to compute human language, rather than just text or keywords of a search query.
3. Eeggi.com – an acronym that stands for engineered, encyclopedic, global and grammatical identities) and claims to be the world’s first “Information engine,” according to the website. With eeggi, searches can include synonyms, understand and differentiate between words such as “understand” and “comprehend,” and be able to analyze and work around the differences in their meanings. Eeggi also reduces irrelevant search results, providing only specific and detailed queries, as well as search several languages at once, find conclusive and deductive results, respond to users directing search magnitude, and respond to direct questions.
4. Powerset.com – this is the first search engine that developed a human language search function, meaning that it is an attempt to have computers understand the way we talk. Though Powerset for now, only searches wiki articles, it also answers questions directly, and can understand your words, instead of just text – you can express your search in keywords, phrases, or direct questions. Because of Powerset, several other “human language” search engines have been brought into the web search engine world.
5. SurfCanyon.com – this is a powerful new free browser extension that personalizes and optimizes your search on any search engine or directory, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, Craigslist, and more. The software “figures out” what you want, and them makes relevant suggestions, much like Jinni.com does for movies.
6. Imprezzeo.com – an image search engine that allows you to search for other images with examples of images – essentially, it is an image-oriented search engine, that uses images for both reference and results.
7. Yahoo! BOSS – the BOSS is an acronym for Build your Own Search Service. This is a project by Yahoo to encourage innovation in search engines. Using Boss, anyone can add their ideas, content, and data to Yahoo’s Boss system to create their own unique search engine, by utilizing Yahoo’s entire search index, crawling, page rank and relevancy algorithms.
8. Deep Web Technologies – in addition to being a search engine itself, it also has powered and created an enormous collective of research search engines under the name. Due to its powerful deep web reach, finding information and relevance that most search engines cannot reach, and also working in real time; Deep Web Technologies has created several search engines under its main name:
9. Biznar – re-searches for businesses
10. ScienceResearch.com – a science research engine, with multiple advanced options, and personalized options for customized research
11. Mednar – medical research engine
12. Scitopia.org – a science, technology and engineering search engine for researchers, focusing on scholarly documents
13. WorldWideScienceAlliance – a global search engine gateway that provides access to national and international databases and portals
14. Collecta.com – though they have not launched yet, their site claims to be the web’s most powerful real time search engine, posting photos and posts from sites like Twitter, WordPress, Flickr, and more. What makes them different from other real-time search engines remains to be seen.
15. Taptu.com – a search engine engineered specifically for mobile devices, like the iPhone and the iTouch.
16. Yottalook.com – a free medical imaging search engine that provides decision support at the point of care using proprietary relevance and ranking algorithms by iVirtuoso, and is designed to provide the practicing radiologists the most important and most relevant information they need at the time of patient care.
17. Cooliris.com – an imaging search engine, plug-in, browser add-on, and mobile imaging device that displays search images on a 3-D wall, and has many other very effective features that offer fast and colorful ways to both search and display images, photos and videos.
18. Tazti.com – a speech recognition search tool that can be downloaded to any browser for special needs and hands free searches
19. Viewzi.com – an image search engine that displays search results as a mini-screen that you can flip through as though they are a picture gallery – this means that page rank becomes less of an issue, because of how fast you can flip through results. Viewzi also can be downloaded as a plug-in or add-on.
20. LiveHit.com – a new “social service discovery” that is more than another social network site, it also features the use of many blog search engine tools, showing you what’s hot, and what will become hot, with a special news/events/topic prediction as part of its functions. As with any social networking, an account is required, but it is free.
21. Gazopa.com – a “similar image search service” which allows you to search images using your own photos, drawings, web images and keywords. You can also search for a similar image by extracting a color or shape from another image. Because many images are difficult to explain with text, GazoPa allows you to use partial images and image characteristics to find other images you’re looking for.
22. Kosmix – a general search engine that brings up a magazine-like search result when a search term, phrase or keyword is put in, everything definitions, to relevant links, videos about the topic, articles, photos, blogs, news, and more. Rather than bringing up one result on one topic, it interprets the searched word or phrase and brings up all areas of relevancy, in multiple web forms and media.
23. Worio – according to their site, “Worio is a discovery engine that works alongside keyword search to expose you to stuff you’ve been missing using search alone.” Worio also personalizes your search, and “learns” your interests through various methods. When a search term or keywords are input, many other popular results are provided with links to
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