While Google still holds the majority of market shares for search, its dominance also opened up the way for other search engines which offer a different perspective. As we’ll see, there are alternatives like Wolfram Alpha, DuckDuckGo, and Brave.
Wolfram Alpha: the computational knowledge engine
In one of my past posts, I called Wolfram Alpha a powerhouse. In fact, Wolfram Alpha is a computational engine.
In short, rather than merely spitting out results based on what it finds through the web, Wolfram Alpha computes everything. It is great for math but also financial analyses.
For instance, let’s say I want to perform a comparative fundamental analysis of four major tech companies: Apple, Google (Alphabet), Amazon, and Facebook.
By typing on Wolfram Alpha “Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook,” that is what I get:
From this table, I can see valuable information right away.
Wolfram Alpha also gives other information, which is pretty useful, and I invite you to look at it from here.
DuckDuckGo: the search engine that doesn’t track you
DuckDuckGo makes money in two simple ways: Advertising and Affiliate Marketing. Advertising is shown based on the keywords typed into the search box. Affiliate revenues come from Amazon and eBay affiliate programs. When users buy after getting on those sites through DuckDuckGo the company collects a small commission.
Started as a solo project by Gabriel Weinberg, it then became a search engine based on the assumption that you don’t have to track users to make money.
Also, you can still offer great results comparable to Google by doing things differently.
Ecosia: the search engine that plants trees
I couldn’t have ever imagined becoming a farmer!Â
My grandad loved farming, and for how much he tried to make me love that, too, I found it too strenuous. However, today the internet gave me the chance to contribute to farming by doing something I do each day: surf the web.Â
In fact, Ecosia is a search engine that plant trees.
I’m testing it out, and with my searches, in the last month, I’ve been helping Ecosia, to plant 128 trees! Pretty impressive considering I don’t feel the fatigue at all!Â
That is also the beauty of the web. Someone decides to get the money it makes online and bring it off-line to help farmers on the other side of the planet to plant trees and save forests. I know it’s just a number on a screen and you might argue that doesn’t mean much. However, it’s intriguing to think that behind that number people are physically planting those trees.
Conclusion
Google is a great search engine, with a robust algorithm that can find what we’re looking for even before we finish typing in our questions. However, we got so used to Google that we barely think of an alternative to it. Instead, in the last decade, a few search engines have appeared which represent a valid alternative to Google. In this article I showed you three examples:
Wolfram Alpha for any computation, financial data and much more
DuckDuckGo to keep your privacy safe while surfing the web
Ecosia to help nature and forests survive while you do something you do each day: surf the web
I tested them all out in the last months, and I found them all very helpful. Also, they offer a fresh perspective on the web. I invite you to try them out.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
