Search engines for searching. The best search engines of the Internet. Search Engine Security

For two decades now, working in the media, I have observed the same phenomenon. Namely: some journalists are completely unwilling to master new technologies, and, it seems, are still nostalgic for typewriters.

And others, on the contrary, master new technologies with cosmic speed, ahead of the most notorious technologists. This text is for the second category.

We are all used to using the world's most popular search engine, Google, to find the information we need. Billions of search queries are registered on Google sites every day, available in approximately 200 languages ​​- it is no coincidence that the main site Google.com is considered the most popular Internet resource. Yandex and Bing are also quite often used.

However, we must admit: the Google search engine is designed for the mass consumer, for those who in 99% of cases are more than enough for the first three pages of search results. But journalists are just those people who sometimes need to find something not too common, to delve deeply into the issue. However, even the most advanced search engine cannot search blogs as well as scientific articles, digital images and recipes equally well. It is for this reason that there are many not too well-known search engines that specialize in some kind of "narrow" search, or are able to search where traditional search engines usually do not search. After all, universal search engines simply “do not see”, for example, web pages that no longer exist, or old versions of pages, content on social networks, pages that are deliberately closed to web spiders, etc.

So what can we use?

1. Answer the question

You can search for something by keywords or phrases, or you can ask a question in natural human language. It answers these questions Answers.com- a search engine that allows you to find answers to a huge number of questions. The search result is not a set of links, but articles from Wikipedia, Oxford University and other authoritative resources. You just have to ask in pure English.

2. Find what is no longer there

Today, almost every advanced Internet user knows how to use the Google or Yandex cache when he needs to view (and / or present as evidence) a recently deleted or modified page in its original form. Well, or to see her as she was at a certain point in time. However, there is a certain problem: such a cache is available for search results only for a relatively short time. This is understandable: the task of the search robot is to provide the most up-to-date version of the Internet resource.

However, sometimes you need to see a site the way it looked, say, a few years ago. For this, special search tools have been created - such as, say, a web service Wayback Machine. Its work is supported by the non-profit organization "Internet Archive", which since 1997 has been collecting copies of web pages and multimedia content posted on the Web. All of these copies, stored on multiple servers, are freely available to everyone. The Wayback Machine allows you to find not only the old version of the current site, but also those web pages that have not existed for a long time - we are talking about closed sites. To date, the Internet Archive has already collected more than 366 billion pages, so you can find what you need with a very high probability.

3. Looking for a picture

Today, the vast majority of users who need to find some kind of photo or other graphic file use Google Images for this purpose. But still, the largest-search engine-in-the-world is “sharpened” for text search, and image search for it is only one of the additional services.

So if you can't find what you need using Google Images, it makes sense to use something specialized. For example, service picsearch. According to its creators, their brainchild has already indexed more than three and a half billion digital pictures.

Picsearch benefits from both a multilingual user interface and full multilingual search, as well as a number of very practical filters, such as the ability to search only black and white or color images, pictures with a predominance of a particular color, search for "wallpaper" for a desktop backgrounds, as well as faces or animated images.

A worthy alternative to Google Images can also be a search engine Everystock photo. On the one hand, it is much smaller - it contains "only" about 25 million images stored on online photo sites, including Flickr, Fotolia and Wikimedia Commons. However, as experts say, the results of her work are truly impressive. Most of the images found can be used for free, however, provided that the name of the photographer or copyright holder is indicated.

The search service for the content of images stands apart. Picollator. When you enter a query in most image search engines, you get results based on what text appears on the page, as well as filenames. Picollator works in a fundamentally different way, identifying what is shown in the pictures. It is clear that in this case the search query should be formulated not as a word or phrase, but as a picture.

That is, to search, you should upload a photo to the server or provide a link to the site where it has already been uploaded. The search results will collect thumbnails of images similar to the uploaded photo. True, this service only works with photographs of people, and of good quality.

Unfortunately, too many journalists - especially those from journalism departments - are not "friends" with numbers. Many do not even see the difference between percentages and percentage points, which sometimes makes articles on economics turn into gibberish. One of the most famous "alternative" search engines can help them - wolframalpha .

In fact, this is an “encyclopedic” search engine, the task of which is to give answers to really difficult questions in such areas as mathematics, physics, medicine, statistics, history, linguistics and other fields of science. In essence, WolframAlpha is more of a colossal database, part of which has been converted into computational algorithms. It is thanks to them that the user of the search engine can get detailed information about how many grams of proteins and calories are in a cup of cocoa, what is the average life expectancy in the US, France and Australia next year, or how an algebraic equation is solved.

However, to fully use WolframAlpha, you need to be fluent in English. Unfortunately, the system does not support other languages.

5. Science again

The scientific world has always been somewhat closed to the uninitiated. Of course, it does not fence itself off from the general public with a steel wall, but in order to read scientific publications, delve into specific databases and see the results of experiments, Web users usually need to register and get special access. That is, ordinary search engines do not index this information - for them, almost all scientific articles belong to the category of the so-called "Deep Web" (Deep Web).

So if you really need to delve into scientific information that is incomprehensible to most uninitiated, use a specialized search engine. Like a search engine Complete Planet, which has access to more than 70,000 scientific databases and highly specialized search engines.

6. Looking for a person!

An ordinary search engine can be used only to search for information about a certain celebrity. If you need information that is not about a public person at all, then the chances of finding any data drop sharply. And then you need to use a specialized search engine.

The most famous of these systems is the search engine. Pipl. It searches for people's data across a range of public registries, online databases, services and social media. A big advantage of the Pipl service is that it works with Cyrillic as well, so it works quite well with Russian-language surnames as well.

Alternative - Russian service HelpRU.NET. He can find the address and home phone number of a resident of not only Russia, but also Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Moldova. In fact, this is a large electronic telephone directory of large cities of the post-Soviet countries, although it is far from complete. However, unlike many similar services, SpravkaRU.NET contains quite up-to-date databases. So if you have at least some information about relatives or the approximate place of residence of the object of your interest, then this will certainly help to find it. I note that the service often does not work.

The easiest way to find someone is to use a search engine Yandex.People. Checked: you won’t get a lot of information, but you will almost certainly find the person himself.

7. Blog Search

Over the past decade and a half, blogs have become not just a social and cultural phenomenon, but simply a bottomless source of a wide variety of information. Not always reliable and correctly presented, but often still very interesting. Specialized search for Russian-language blogs - service "Yandex.Blogs". No bells and whistles, just a working search.

8. Keep your search private

One of the outstanding developments of the 2010s is the anonymous search engine. DuckDuckGo. It is an open source search engine founded in September 2008. In its user agreement, DDG emphasizes the confidentiality of user-provided data, the refusal to record and store user information, and the refusal to spy on users.

In technological terms, DuckDuckGo differs from universal search engines in that it does not use a "filter bubble" (Filter bubble), that is, it does not take into account past user requests to determine what information is most interesting to him. DuckDuckGo by default uses the work between the client and the server over the HTTPS protocol, working on the RC4 encryption algorithm with a 128-bit key. Also, DDG Search Engine does not use cookies and does not store data about users' IP addresses, does not offer to log in, and by default encrypts transmitted data.

The anonymous search engine is the brainchild of programmer Gabriel Weinberg. He created DDG in 2008, deciding from the outset that it would not store user data because it contained too much personal information. “If you ask people about the importance of the privacy of their searches, they will say that it is very important, but at the same time, almost no one tries to make their searches anonymous,” Weinberg wrote on his blog. – Google stores not only the search queries of users, but also the IP addresses from which they accessed. It is a myth that Google must store all this information. Almost all the money they get is based on what the user types in the search bar.”

At first, DuckDuckGo was little known: back in early June 2013, it was processing only 1.7 million requests per day. But then there was a scandal: information about the PRISM program was made public in the United States - with its help, the US NSA gained access to the servers of companies, including the owners of the world's largest search engines - Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. Shortly thereafter, the number of daily requests to DuckDuckGo exceeded 3 million per day and continued to grow rapidly.

This is a searchable database of the most popular dlls. The files are sorted alphabetically, there is a search function. The file you are looking for can be found even if only the approximate name of the library is known.

13. Search for medical information

Website Medpoisk.ru- a universal search engine that is designed to search exclusively on medical sites. Uses a search engine from Google. This is a practical tool not only for doctors, but also for anyone who needs an answer to any question in the field of medicine. How to treat this or that disease, what are the contraindications of this or that medicine, which doctor to contact. Also included in the search engine is a labor exchange for medical workers.

14. Space is our everything

Astronomical search service Astronet specializes in searching for information on sites related to astronomy and space exploration. In total, the database of the search engine contains about five hundred sites of astronomical subjects - sites of observatories, amateur pages, libraries of scientific literature, and the like.

In addition to the search function, the site has a lot of other useful services, including, for example, an English-Russian-English astronomical dictionary, a biographical guide with detailed information about all the scientists who contributed to the development of astronomy, a glossary of astronomical terms. There is also a handy star map that generates the position of the constellations, depending on the latitude and longitude of the observation point, as well as the time of day.

Of course, this is only a small part of alternative search services. And over time, some of them stop working, but new ones appear. The best minds are creating ever more advanced algorithms for selecting Internet search results. However, if you learn how to skillfully operate with the syntax of a search query, then Google, Yandex, Yahoo! and other "general purpose" search engines can produce results as good as alternative search engines.

What is it

DuckDuckGo is a fairly well-known open source search engine. The servers are located in the USA. In addition to its own robot, the search engine uses the results of other sources: Yahoo, Bing, Wikipedia.

The better

DuckDuckGo positions itself as the ultimate privacy and privacy search. The system does not collect any data about the user, does not store logs (no search history), the use of cookies is as limited as possible.

DuckDuckGo does not collect or share personal information from users. This is our privacy policy.

Gabriel Weinberg, founder of DuckDuckGo

Why do you need this

All major search engines try to personalize search results based on data about the person in front of the monitor. This phenomenon is called "filter bubble": the user sees only those results that are consistent with his preferences or that the system considers as such.

Forms an objective picture that does not depend on your past behavior on the Web, and gets rid of Google and Yandex thematic advertising based on your requests. With the help of DuckDuckGo, it is easy to search for information in foreign languages, while Google and Yandex prefer Russian-language sites by default, even if the query is entered in another language.

What is it

not Evil is a system that searches the anonymous Tor network. To use it, you need to go to this network, for example, by launching a specialized .

not Evil is not the only search engine of its kind. There is LOOK (default search in the Tor browser, accessible from the regular Internet) or TORCH (one of the oldest search engines on the Tor network) and others. We settled on not Evil because of the unmistakable allusion to Google (just look at the start page).

The better

He is looking for where Google, Yandex and other search engines are denied access in principle.

Why do you need this

There are many resources on the Tor network that cannot be found on the law-abiding Internet. And their number will grow as the control of the authorities over the contents of the Web tightens. Tor is a kind of network within the Web with its social networks, torrent trackers, media, marketplaces, blogs, libraries, and so on.

3. YaCy

What is it

YaCy is a decentralized search engine that works on the principle of P2P networks. Each computer on which the main software module is installed scans the Internet on its own, that is, it is an analogue of a search robot. The results obtained are collected in a common database, which is used by all YaCy participants.

The better

It is difficult to say here whether this is better or worse, since YaCy is a completely different approach to organizing search. The lack of a single server and owner company makes the results completely independent of anyone's preferences. The autonomy of each node excludes censorship. YaCy is capable of searching the deep web and non-indexed public networks.

Why do you need this

If you are a supporter of open source software and a free Internet that is not influenced by government agencies and large corporations, then YaCy is your choice. It can also be used to organize searches within a corporate or other autonomous network. And although YaCy is not very useful in everyday life, it is a worthy alternative to Google in terms of the search process.

4. Pipl

What is it

Pipl is a system designed to search for information about a specific person.

The better

The authors of Pipl claim that their specialized algorithms search more efficiently than "regular" search engines. In particular, social media profiles, comments, lists of members and various databases where information about people is published, such as databases of court decisions, are prioritized. Pipl's leadership in this area is confirmed by Lifehacker.com, TechCrunch and other publications.

Why do you need this

If you need to find information about a person living in the US, then Pipl will be much more efficient than Google. Databases of Russian courts, apparently, are inaccessible to the search engine. Therefore, he does not cope so well with the citizens of Russia.

What is it

FindSounds is another specialized search engine. Searches open sources for various sounds: house, nature, cars, people, and so on. The service does not support requests in Russian, but there is an impressive list of Russian-language tags that you can search for.

The better

In the issuance of only sounds and nothing more. In the settings you can set the desired format and sound quality. All found sounds are available for download. There is a pattern search.

Why do you need this

If you need to quickly find the sound of a musket shot, the blow of a sucking woodpecker, or the cry of Homer Simpson, then this service is for you. And we chose this only from the available Russian-language queries. In English, the spectrum is even wider.

Seriously, a specialized service implies a specialized audience. But will it come in handy for you too?

What is it

Wolfram|Alpha is a computational search engine. Instead of links to articles containing keywords, it gives a ready-made answer to the user's query. For example, if you enter in the search form "compare the population of New York and San Francisco" in English, then Wolfram|Alpha will immediately display tables and graphs with a comparison.

The better

This service is better than others for finding facts and calculating data. Wolfram|Alpha collects and organizes knowledge available on the Web from various fields, including science, culture and entertainment. If this database contains a ready answer to a search query, the system shows it, if not, it calculates and displays the result. In this case, the user sees only and nothing more.

Why do you need this

If you are, for example, a student, analyst, journalist, or researcher, you can use Wolfram|Alpha to find and calculate data related to your activities. The service does not understand all requests, but is constantly evolving and becoming smarter.

What is it

Metasearch engine Dogpile displays a combined list of results from Google, Yahoo and other popular search engines.

The better

First, Dogpile displays fewer ads. Secondly, the service uses a special algorithm to find and display the best results from different search engines. According to the developers of Dogpile, their system generates the most complete issue on the entire Internet.

Why do you need this

If you can't find information on Google or another standard search engine, look it up in several search engines at once using Dogpile.

What is it

BoardReader is a text search system for forums, Q&A services and other communities.

The better

The service allows you to narrow the search field to social sites. Thanks to special filters, you can quickly find posts and comments that match your criteria: language, publication date, and site name.

Why do you need this

BoardReader can be useful for PR specialists and other media professionals who are interested in the opinion of the mass media on certain issues.

Finally

The life of alternative search engines is often fleeting. Lifehacker asked the former CEO of the Ukrainian branch of the Yandex company Sergey Petrenko about the long-term prospects for such projects.

Sergei Petrenko

Former CEO of Yandex.Ukraine.

As for the fate of alternative search engines, it is simple: to be very niche projects with a small audience, therefore, without clear commercial prospects, or, conversely, with the complete clarity of their absence.

If you look at the examples in the article, you can see that such search engines either specialize in a narrow but in-demand niche, which, perhaps only so far, has not grown enough to be noticeable on the radars of Google or Yandex, or are testing an original hypothesis in ranking, which is not yet applicable in conventional search.

For example, if a Tor search suddenly turns out to be in demand, that is, at least a percentage of the Google audience will need the results from there, then, of course, ordinary search engines will begin to solve the problem of how to find them and show them to the user. If the behavior of the audience shows that a significant proportion of users in a significant number of queries seem to be more relevant results, data without taking into account factors that depend on the user, then Yandex or Google will begin to give such results.

"To be better" in the context of this article does not mean "to be better at everything". Yes, in many aspects our heroes are far from Yandex (even far from Bing). But each of these services gives the user something that the giants of the search industry cannot offer. Surely you also know similar projects. Share with us - let's discuss.

There is a wealth of useful information hidden on the dark side of the internet. Many trading platforms with legal and prohibited things. Possibility to order illegal services, such as ddos ​​of websites or flood of telephone lines. There is a lot of cruel content - and this is really only a small part of what can be found in the deep web. However, in addition to illegal things, the dark web can offer a lot of useful services. Bitcoin exchangers, thematic forums with a database of lawyers and judges, online libraries and sites simply blocked by Roskomnadzor. In addition, almost all popular services have their own mirrors in the dark space. An example is Facebook, blocked in some countries, or the domestic torrent tracker Rutor.org.

How to search sites in Tor?

The first question that arises when loading a browser is “how to find prohibited sites in the Torah?”. Using an onion connection has some peculiarities to keep in mind when searching:

• Pages take longer to load. The page may take a long time to load, this is due to the anonymity mechanisms that the Tor browser uses.
• Sites on the dark web often change their addresses.
• All links have their own .onion type extension. For this reason, backlinks are rarely used. Accordingly, the backlink algorithms are not performed at the proper level.
• Tor uses its own search engines to search for any information.

Grams is a search engine on the Tor network.

Grams is designed, as the name suggests, to serve the needs of drug addicts. In addition to narcotic substances, through it you can find any illegal goods and services. The Grams logo and design is completely copied from Google. It was created by a hacker under the nickname gramsadmin, an active Reddit user. The service has its own model of paid contextual advertising for the distribution of prohibited goods by keywords.

According to the latest data, the site has stopped opening, most likely the search engine is no longer working.

Tor search engine not Evil

The not Evil search engine is very popular among deep web users. It constantly indexes new trading exchanges and thematic forums. As a result, search bases are rapidly expanding. It is also worth noting that until recently the system was known as TorSearch.

Tor search engine Tourch

Tourch is one of the oldest search resources on the DarkNet. It has over half a million different sites in its database. Unfortunately, due to poor optimization, the search engine sometimes sags. The system lives exclusively due to contextual advertising. Therefore, when using a search engine, you need to be extremely careful in choosing resources. Do not trust sites from contextual advertising.

Tor search engine Fess

The main feature of this system is the filtering of search traffic. For example, Fess does not index marketplaces or services for illegal services. It was created primarily to search for censorship-free information. The search engine has a good database of sites, not as extensive as most, but at the same time the most useful and safe. Indexing is carried out by moderators in manual mode. There is no contextual advertising at all. At the same time, each user can recommend a resource they like for indexing.

Tor search engine Candle

Completely similar to most services. Has a logo copied from Google. Like others, he earns on banner advertising. There are not so many sites in its database yet. Many of which are not reliable. Therefore, when searching for services through Candle, you should exercise extreme caution.

Thor search engine Ahima

Ahima is designed primarily for indexing anonymous communication services and various highly specialized forums. The service is available both in the deep and in the regular Internet.

From all of the above, we can draw a simple conclusion: not one search engine gives a 100% guarantee of the reliability of indexed services. For this reason, the dark web should pay special attention to anonymity.

http://msydqstlz2kzerdg.onion/

• You cannot visit social networks through the Tor browser, even if the account is registered under a fake name. You can calculate the user through the list of visited pages within the social network or if you have mutual friends with the main account.
• Do not log in to payment systems and online banking. Many financial systems, such as PayPal, can block an account that is authorized through Tor.
• Do not post personal information on the regular internet via Tor.
• It's best not to use a regular browser and Tor at the same time. After a while, they can be confused.
• In the browser settings, you must globally disable the use of HTML 5 and java scripts. And manually include them on the pages of interest.
• When communicating on forums, you should not download files and follow suspicious links.
• Avoid dark web platforms that require phone number verification.
• It is dangerous to switch to dark web services using conventional browser anonymizers or specialized services. These systems do not guarantee any anonymity on the network.

What to do if forbidden pages do not open even through Tor?

Forbidden sites regularly change their addresses, for this reason they may be inaccessible even through Tor. In this case, there is usually no redirection from the old address to the new one. In this situation, you can find the site using specialized directories. Such as for example The hidden wiki. Also, sometimes popular services can be overloaded with requests. Then you should visit them later.

A search engine is a database of specific information on the Internet. Many users believe that as soon as they enter a query into a search engine, they immediately begin scanning the entire Internet, but this is not at all the case. Internet scanning occurs constantly, many programs, data about sites are entered into a database, where, according to certain criteria, all sites and all their pages are distributed into various lists and databases. That is, it is a kind of data file, and the search takes place not on the Internet, but on this file.

Google is the most popular search engine in the world.

In addition to the search engine, Google offers many additional services, software and hardware, including the mail service, the Google Chrome browser, the largest youtube video library and many other projects. Google is confidently buying up many projects that bring large profits. Most of the services are not aimed at a direct user, but at making money on the Internet and are integrated with a focus on the interests of European and American users.

Mail is a search engine popular mainly because of the mail service.

There are many additional services, the key of which is mail Mail, at the moment Mail owns the Odnoklassniki social network, its own My World network, the Money-mail service, many online games, three almost identical browsers with different names. All applications and services have a lot of advertising content. The social network "VKonatkte" blocks direct transitions to Mail services, arguing with a large number of viruses.

Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is a searchable reference system.

A non-profit search engine that exists on private donations, therefore it does not fill the pages with advertising. A multilingual project whose goal is to create a complete reference encyclopedia in all languages ​​of the world. It has no specific authors, is filled in and managed by volunteers from all over the world. Each user can both write and edit an article.

The official page is www.wikipedia.org.

Youtube is the largest video library.

Video hosting with elements of a social network, where each user can add a video. From the moment they were acquired by Google Ink, a separate registration for YouTube is not required, it is enough to register in the Google mail service.

The official page is youtube.com.

Yahoo! is the second most important search engine in the world.

There are additional services, the most famous of which is Yahoo mail. As part of improving the quality of the search engine, Yahoo transmits data about users and their requests to Microsoft. From this data, an idea of ​​the interests of users is formed, as well as a market for advertising content. The Yahoo search engine, as well as, is engaged in the absorption of other companies, for example, Yahoo owns the Altavista search service and the Alibaba e-commerce site.

The official page is www.yahoo.com.

WDL is a digital library.

The library collects books of cultural value in digital form. The main goal is to increase the level of cultural content of the Internet. Access to the library is free.

The official page is www.wdl.org/ru/.

Bing is a search engine from Microsoft.

The official website is www.baidu.com.

Search engines in Russia

Rambler is a "pro-American" search engine.

It was originally created as a media Internet portal. Like many other search engines, it has image search services, video files, maps, weather forecast, news section and much more. Publishers also offer a free browser Rambler-Nichrome.

The official page is www.rambler.ru.

Nigma is an intelligent search engine.

A more convenient search engine due to the presence of many filters and settings. The interface allows you to include or exclude suggested similar values ​​in the search to get better results. Also, when receiving a search result, it allows you to use information from other major search engines.

The official page is www.nigma.ru.

Aport - online catalog of goods.

In the past, the search engine, but after the fact that developments and innovations were discontinued, quickly lost ground and . At the moment, Aport is a trading platform, where goods from more than 1500 companies are presented.

The official page is www.aport.ru.

Sputnik is a national search engine and Internet portal.

Created by Rostelecom. It is currently in the testing phase.

The official website is www.sputnik.ru.

Metabot is a developing search engine.

The tasks of Metabot is to create a search engine for all other search engines, creating positions for issuing results, taking into account the data of the entire list of search engines. That is, it is a search engine for search engines.

The official page is www.metabot.ru.

The search engine has been suspended.

The official page is www.turtle.ru.

KM - multiportal.

Initially, the site was a multi-portal with the subsequent introduction of a search engine. The search can be carried out both within the site and on all tracked Runet sites.

The official page is www.km.ru.

Gogo - does not work, redirects to a search engine.

The official page is www.gogo.ru.

The Russian multiportal, which is not very popular, needs to be improved. The search engine includes news, TV, games, map.

The official page is www.zoneru.org.

The search engine does not work, the developers suggest using the search engine.

What is it

DuckDuckGo is a fairly well-known open source search engine. The servers are located in the USA. In addition to its own robot, the search engine uses the results of other sources: Yahoo, Bing, Wikipedia.

The better

DuckDuckGo positions itself as the ultimate privacy and privacy search. The system does not collect any data about the user, does not store logs (no search history), the use of cookies is as limited as possible.

DuckDuckGo does not collect or share personal information from users. This is our privacy policy.

Gabriel Weinberg, founder of DuckDuckGo

Why do you need this

All major search engines try to personalize search results based on data about the person in front of the monitor. This phenomenon is called "filter bubble": the user sees only those results that are consistent with his preferences or that the system considers as such.

Forms an objective picture that does not depend on your past behavior on the Web, and gets rid of Google and Yandex thematic advertising based on your requests. With the help of DuckDuckGo, it is easy to search for information in foreign languages, while Google and Yandex prefer Russian-language sites by default, even if the query is entered in another language.

What is it

not Evil is a system that searches the anonymous Tor network. To use it, you need to go to this network, for example, by launching a specialized .

not Evil is not the only search engine of its kind. There is LOOK (default search in the Tor browser, accessible from the regular Internet) or TORCH (one of the oldest search engines on the Tor network) and others. We settled on not Evil because of the unmistakable allusion to Google (just look at the start page).

The better

He is looking for where Google, Yandex and other search engines are denied access in principle.

Why do you need this

There are many resources on the Tor network that cannot be found on the law-abiding Internet. And their number will grow as the control of the authorities over the contents of the Web tightens. Tor is a kind of network within the Web with its social networks, torrent trackers, media, marketplaces, blogs, libraries, and so on.

3. YaCy

What is it

YaCy is a decentralized search engine that works on the principle of P2P networks. Each computer on which the main software module is installed scans the Internet on its own, that is, it is an analogue of a search robot. The results obtained are collected in a common database, which is used by all YaCy participants.

The better

It is difficult to say here whether this is better or worse, since YaCy is a completely different approach to organizing search. The lack of a single server and owner company makes the results completely independent of anyone's preferences. The autonomy of each node excludes censorship. YaCy is capable of searching the deep web and non-indexed public networks.

Why do you need this

If you are a supporter of open source software and a free Internet that is not influenced by government agencies and large corporations, then YaCy is your choice. It can also be used to organize searches within a corporate or other autonomous network. And although YaCy is not very useful in everyday life, it is a worthy alternative to Google in terms of the search process.

4. Pipl

What is it

Pipl is a system designed to search for information about a specific person.

The better

The authors of Pipl claim that their specialized algorithms search more efficiently than "regular" search engines. In particular, social media profiles, comments, lists of members and various databases where information about people is published, such as databases of court decisions, are prioritized. Pipl's leadership in this area is confirmed by Lifehacker.com, TechCrunch and other publications.

Why do you need this

If you need to find information about a person living in the US, then Pipl will be much more efficient than Google. Databases of Russian courts, apparently, are inaccessible to the search engine. Therefore, he does not cope so well with the citizens of Russia.

What is it

FindSounds is another specialized search engine. Searches open sources for various sounds: house, nature, cars, people, and so on. The service does not support requests in Russian, but there is an impressive list of Russian-language tags that you can search for.

The better

In the issuance of only sounds and nothing more. In the settings you can set the desired format and sound quality. All found sounds are available for download. There is a pattern search.

Why do you need this

If you need to quickly find the sound of a musket shot, the blow of a sucking woodpecker, or the cry of Homer Simpson, then this service is for you. And we chose this only from the available Russian-language queries. In English, the spectrum is even wider.

Seriously, a specialized service implies a specialized audience. But will it come in handy for you too?

What is it

Wolfram|Alpha is a computational search engine. Instead of links to articles containing keywords, it gives a ready-made answer to the user's query. For example, if you enter in the search form "compare the population of New York and San Francisco" in English, then Wolfram|Alpha will immediately display tables and graphs with a comparison.

The better

This service is better than others for finding facts and calculating data. Wolfram|Alpha collects and organizes knowledge available on the Web from various fields, including science, culture and entertainment. If this database contains a ready answer to a search query, the system shows it, if not, it calculates and displays the result. In this case, the user sees only and nothing more.

Why do you need this

If you are, for example, a student, analyst, journalist, or researcher, you can use Wolfram|Alpha to find and calculate data related to your activities. The service does not understand all requests, but is constantly evolving and becoming smarter.

What is it

Metasearch engine Dogpile displays a combined list of results from Google, Yahoo and other popular search engines.

The better

First, Dogpile displays fewer ads. Secondly, the service uses a special algorithm to find and display the best results from different search engines. According to the developers of Dogpile, their system generates the most complete issue on the entire Internet.

Why do you need this

If you can't find information on Google or another standard search engine, look it up in several search engines at once using Dogpile.

What is it

BoardReader is a text search system for forums, Q&A services and other communities.

The better

The service allows you to narrow the search field to social sites. Thanks to special filters, you can quickly find posts and comments that match your criteria: language, publication date, and site name.

Why do you need this

BoardReader can be useful for PR specialists and other media professionals who are interested in the opinion of the mass media on certain issues.

Finally

The life of alternative search engines is often fleeting. Lifehacker asked the former CEO of the Ukrainian branch of the Yandex company Sergey Petrenko about the long-term prospects for such projects.

Sergei Petrenko

Former CEO of Yandex.Ukraine.

As for the fate of alternative search engines, it is simple: to be very niche projects with a small audience, therefore, without clear commercial prospects, or, conversely, with the complete clarity of their absence.

If you look at the examples in the article, you can see that such search engines either specialize in a narrow but in-demand niche, which, perhaps only so far, has not grown enough to be noticeable on the radars of Google or Yandex, or are testing an original hypothesis in ranking, which is not yet applicable in conventional search.

For example, if a Tor search suddenly turns out to be in demand, that is, at least a percentage of the Google audience will need the results from there, then, of course, ordinary search engines will begin to solve the problem of how to find them and show them to the user. If the behavior of the audience shows that a significant proportion of users in a significant number of queries seem to be more relevant results, data without taking into account factors that depend on the user, then Yandex or Google will begin to give such results.

"To be better" in the context of this article does not mean "to be better at everything". Yes, in many aspects our heroes are far from Yandex (even far from Bing). But each of these services gives the user something that the giants of the search industry cannot offer. Surely you also know similar projects. Share with us - let's discuss.