Search engines are the way to find information online. They’re an integral part of how we use the internet, but not all engines are created equal. What differentiates them from one another is the type and depth and scope of information and services they offer. Here’s a list of the top 10 search engines:
- Bing
- Yahoo
- Baidu
- Duckduckgo
- Yandex
- Qwant
- Blekko
- Dogpile
- Bingo!
1. Google
Google is the king of search engines and its motto is “don’t be evil.” What makes Google unique is that it knows what information you’re looking for before you even start your search, so it can direct you to the best information. There are several web search alternatives, but the only one that would rank as the best overall is Google. It’s also the leader in revenue generated. This is likely why users, small business owners, and other website visitors tend to rely on Google more often than other search.
2. Bing
According to Bing, about one-third of the online population uses the search engine. You can use it to find current news, to search for interesting topics, and to conduct other types of internet searches. It offers a range of tools to help you find what you’re looking for, including
3. Yahoo
Yahoo, in particular, has been sliding in the search rankings due to acquisitions, declining usage, security breaches and the changing internet landscape. Yahoo’s parent company, Verizon, has been pursuing an internet strategy that includes Yahoo and AOL properties.
Where Yahoo will fit into that equation is still unclear. It’s possible, however, that Yahoo will be one of the surviving properties when Verizon completes its $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo, which will likely happen at the end of the second quarter of 2017.
If there’s a sale, I would not be surprised to see a private equity shop do it for sure,” Siegel said. “There are a lot of private equity firms with an appetite for these types of things.
4. Baidu
Baidu is the Chinese version of Google. It’s become so big and popular in China that you can even search it with a Yandex search bar. That means you don’t have to use your VPN or speak Chinese to get the best search results. Baidu also has some unique features like image searches and voice search, so if you want to learn more about any of the images on this page, you’ll be able to do so.
5. Duckduckgo
Duckduckgo is a search engine for information on history, sports, politics, culture, etc. Duckduckgo strives to provide a simple search experience, with “simple results, simple questions, and simple answers.” Their more advanced search features allow you to select topics by category, or by language, as well as view results in video, image and tab view. Duckduckgo is the alternative for Bing.
6. Yandex
In particular, Russian search engine Yandex, known for its own Yandex.Maps service, is well worth a look. It’s the tenth largest search engine in the world, with almost 60 percent market share in Russia and Belarus, the company claims.
Yandex’s primary focus is offering search results in a Russian-language interface, similar to the approach taken by Bing and Google. However, Yandex has far deeper access to the Russian-language web, which should give it an edge over the American giants in the long-run.
7. Qwant
One of the newest entrants on the list, Qwant is particularly interesting because it is a peer-to-peer search engine, meaning that users can search on their phones for information not offered by their web browser. It was also the winner of the Europewide search engine competition organized by the European Commission in October 2017.
8. Blekko
Launched in May, Blekko looks to challenge search engines like Google and Yahoo as it is the only one that ranks and ranks the information online instead of relying on Google’s results. It’s also offers other valuable services such as an up-and-coming social network and desktop search.
In an interview with ElcomSoft’s Andrey Frangulyan, CEO Anton Levin said that they are currently focused on improving their search engine, but that mobile is a major part of their future, with a focus on Android.
Currently, Blekko only offers a few search tools on its app for Windows and Mac. And while it’s an interesting endeavor for the company to take on big names like Google and Yahoo, it’s still too early to say if it can usurp the big guys.
9. Dogpile
Dogpile is one of the latest additions to the top 10. It’s sort of an interesting concept. By clicking on the Dogpile logo at the top of the page, you can “call” Dogpile’s support team to address queries. A major benefit of using Dogpile is
that this option is built right into the search engine. In other words, Dogpile doesn’t even require you to install an app.
Dogpile has an excellent collection of custom search boxes you can set to any type of question you might have. In fact, that list is one of the best things about it. You can create various types of search boxes, from the simplest to the most elaborate. You can even import your own custom HTML code to create your own box or add to Dogpile’s own suggestions.
10. Bingo!
It’s pretty clear who the top dogs are. Bing has been slowly ascending the search rankings over the past few years, and its huge increase in search traffic over the past year has cemented its position.
In addition to its massive search market share, Bing also happens to dominate in terms of market share and usage, dominating 16.5 percent of the global search market according to StatCounter.
It’s clear that Bing is the most popular search engine by a substantial margin. But what about for businesses? It’s all about the search ranking.