Putting Google
aside is almost impossible. The California-based company accumulates 90% of
search queries around the world. However, there are search engines that you do
not know and that can help you in your daily life, especially at a professional
or academic level.
Common search
engines outside of Google
When a search
doesn’t return the results you want, then other search engines that are
specific and specialized in specific areas or specific file types come into
play.
1. Most Popular,
Bing
This is Microsoft's
search engine, which is built into the brand's computers by default, created by
Bill Gates. It works very comparable to Google and offers a fairly high search
volume, around 3% of global searches (if this seems like a low percentage, the
rest of the alternatives barely exceed 1% or below).
What are the
benefits?
Its design and work
is trying to be like Google (for better or for worse).
Provides results
with direct links (the main sections of the site are broken down under the main
result).
Shows related
searches at the bottom.
Show special
features as extended results.
1.1. Bing
strength or advantage: image search engine
This is Bing's most
popular feature. When you double-search and click on the one you want to
explore, a new page opens with information about the source and original web
page.
Options:
The (+) icon to
save the link.
Go to the original
site.
See image in full
size.
Share on social
media.
1.2. Search by
image in Bing
It consists of a
similarity search, which allows you to select a specific part of an image
(face, company, logo) and search for similar images.
How it works? It's
as easy as clicking and stretching the light box over the area of the photo
you want to explore.
2. DuckDuckGo
A conventional
search engine with one major advantage: it doesn't crawl user data. In
addition, this tool produces good results that are relevant and relevant to
your search. Its level of reliability is quite high.
It contains a dedicated
blog that discusses search engines and privacy. DuckDuckGo is growing rapidly
in the US.
3. Ixquick
This is a common
multiple search system that can be very effective. Moreover, as with
DuckDuckGo, it does not crawl search data and is, in fact, "the most
confidential search engine in the world."
4. Quantum
The French
government is betting on ensuring the safety of the search for its citizens.
Given the amount of information that Google tracks, France decided to invest in
a national startup to form Qwant, whose main characteristic is computer
security.
In addition, they
developed Qwant junior, which is used at the school level and covers the
untapped sector, finding children.
5. Ask
It is a well-known
search engine that has gained a notable reputation. Recently, the level of
relevance of his proposed results has increased. Its greatest asset is
minimalism in design.
Specialized
search engines
1. Google Scholar
Although owned by
Google, his job is not like his father's. It is one of the most widely used
tools at the academic level, especially in journalism, scientific research, the
environment or medicine.
It has a library
where you can save and organize all the information you collect. Really
helpful.
2. Microsoft
Academic
Find the
"copy" again. As the name suggests, this is Microsoft's academic
search engine. At first, he wanted to look like a Google tool at all costs, but
after a number of changes and adjustments, he managed to form his own model,
different from the model offered by his competitor.
Although it
contains less information, sometimes less is more, and you can find specific
results and fewer straws in simple terms.
3. Sicence
Direct
A search engine
with the same vocation as the previous two, but with a fundamental difference:
it belongs to the most important publisher of medical books and scientific
literature in the world, Elsevier.
Provides access to
more than 13 million exclusive articles from the publisher dedicated to
experimental and technological sciences.
4. Wolfram Alpha
It is not a search
engine, but an answer system. Through a structured database, different from
other engines like Google or Bing, you can respond in two ways. The first is
through Mathematica, a language that creates a structured database to answer a
question. On the other hand, he also answers specific questions such as
"how many years was Felipe Gonzalez president?"
Wolfram Alpha is
not fully automated. The information sources included in the database are
selected by Wolfram staff. These are often databases that are not included in
Google and other search engines.
5. CC Search
More than a search
engine, it is an interface specialized in data and systems that collect content
under a Creative Commons license, which is free. It is a great tool for journalists,
communication andadvertising professionals who need audiovisual and graphic
materials to complement their publications.
6. TinEye
An ally in the
fight against information manipulation. In today's world, fake news is common.
Many media outlets are dedicated to promoting this type of news in addition to
clickbaits (cyber baits) to get money through advertising. Well, TinEye allows
you to analyze an image to find similar ones and make sure it really matches
its description.
In short, if you
find an image on a social media site that claims to be from a specific time and
place, you can be convinced that this is indeed the case.
Other very
practical search engines
You can also find
endless search engines in very specific areas. The most commonly used:
ARQ: A search
engine for architecture, design and construction in Spanish.
Admiweb.org/subsidies:
A search engine for grants and subsidies offered by the Spanish administration.
Biographies.com
Search - As the name suggests, it is used to find biographies of famous people.
Flight search
systems: Skyscanner, Kayak and Momondo. There are three different search
engines that look at airline deals to offer you the cheapest flight deals.
Twitter and its
advanced search
The bird's social
network has an advanced search system that allows you to access much more
specific information. Best of all, you don't have to open a profile to use this
tool, as you only need to access advanced social search and use your desktop
computer if you want to take full advantage of the functionality. Great ally
for activity monitoring.
1. Search by
words
- All These Words:
Scan tweets containing (in any order) the words you entered.
- This exact
phrase: Search for tweets containing the exact phrase. If you enter “best
restaurant in Madrid”, all tweets containing that expression will be shown.
- Any of these
words: Search for tweets containing one or more of the entered words.
- None of these
words: to clarify the results and exclude tweets that you are not interested
in.
- These hashtags:
Enter a hashtag and check tweets containing a specific tag.
- Written in
(refers to language): to search for tweets in other languages.
2. Look for
people
- From these
accounts: Enter another user's name and view their tweets.
- For these
accounts: Enter the name of another user and see all the tweets that mention
it.
3. Locations
It allows you to
filter results by location, but you can only use this filter if you are signed
in with an account.
4. Timing
Select a time
period to filter the results. If you want to find tweets that happened during a
specific event, this is the best option.
Twitter Advanced
Search is ideal for advertising research. By refining search results, this tool
allows you to track and monitor the activity of any competitor brand, know what
they are talking about, what impact they have and who is responding to their
messages.
Predictive
search
They are known as
information aggregators, platforms where you enter your interests, analyze your
tastes. They learn from your way of interacting to offer you interesting
information.
They usually
consist of a home page that displays the most relevant and visible news or
articles. The most famous aggregator is Flipboard, although Facebook also acts
as a news aggregator and actually has a better predictive search engine if
configured correctly.
Conclusion
While Google is
ubiquitous, that doesn't make it omnipotent. The most used search engine in the
world is an effective tool, but for some tasks it is not effective enough. The
rest of the search engines and platforms are allies for research or work with
information that you should always keep in mind. Now that you know them, there
is no excuse not to use them.
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