Search engines without restrictions: three little-known search engines in comparison. Personal page on Google. Reframe your queries based on the results you've already received.
How to find only necessary information.
Every day on world wide web millions of new documents, photos, videos and other data are generated. Every year it becomes more and more difficult to search the Internet; every now and then you come across something unnecessary, outdated, or pushed by advertisers.
The Google search engine has long suggested using special operators search for a more accurate match, in addition, the search giant can independently provide answers to some questions without redirecting to other sites.
Let's remember forgotten ways search and learn new ones together:
1. Search for an exact match
For what: To prevent the search engine from searching for each part of our request separately, we use quotation marks. For example, you remember the title of the article, song or movie you are looking for. The search will be carried out based on an exact match of the phrase with the specified word order.
How: enclose the entire request in quotes
2. Exclude the word from the search
For what: To remove unnecessary data from search results, you can disable searching for certain words. To do this, after entering the request itself, we list the characteristics that we do not need.
How: Before each of them we put a dash without a space.
3. Search on a specific site
For what: To start a search on the desired site without going to it, you should use the “site:” search operator. Please note that the site address must be specified in full.
How: search_query site:full_site_address
For what: If you liked a certain resource and wanted to find something similar, use the “related:” operator. Google will find the main pages of similar sites without advertising tinsel and fake results.
How: related:full_site_address
5. Search by file type
For what: if you want to receive data in a specific format. For example, a photo in *.png, a book in *.fb2, a video in *.mp4, etc.
How: search_query filetype:file_format
6. Range Search
For what: if we are looking for something related to numbers and want to limit our search. We may be interested in data about dates, price, time, coordinates, etc. In order not to receive in the search results unnecessary information– we limit the search.
How: search_query number_from..number_to
7. Search for a forgotten word
For what: you forgot part of a word or phrase, you can’t remember a quote or solve a crossword puzzle. The best way searching by phrase, with missing words - using the “*” operator
How: write * instead of each unknown word
8. Search for any of the options
For what: to enter a query once to search using multiple criteria. If we don’t have to look for two, three or more options, but need one of them.
How: use the OR operator
9. Search with all options available
For what: if you need data about several objects mentioned in the same context. In the case of such a search, only options with the presence of all the searched words will be displayed.
How: search_word_1 & search_word_2
10. Search for profiles on social networks
For what: this way you can immediately find the pages of the person, site or brand you are looking for. The search will be carried out using profiles with the specified name.
How:@search_name
11. Search for posts with a hashtag
For what: this way you can see the most popular posts on a certain topic, of course, among those who put the tag specified in the search.
How:#hashtag
12. Time in any city
For what: to quickly find out whether your WOT friend from America is sleeping or has already woken up, to see when the working day starts for foreign partners, or just out of curiosity.
How: time City
13. Weather in any city
For what: a similar search query, but with the weather in the specified region.
How: weather City
14. Time of sunset or dawn
For what: everyone may have their own specific reasons to find out the time of sunset or sunrise in their city or any other locality on the ground.
How: sunrise/sunset City
15. Stock quotes
For what: for those who play on the stock exchange, follow the news, or are simply interested in how Apple or Tesla are doing.
How: promotions Brand
16. Exchange rate
For what: Now this question interests many. So why not search for this information quickly and easily without unnecessary sites.
How: Currency rate (displays the rate of foreign currency to local)
17. Unit converter
For what: you can use applications for iPhone and iPad, but it’s easier to get rid of unnecessary programs on the device and use conversion from Google. You can also find out the rates of any currency, not just the local one.
How: unit_1 unit_2
18. Calculator
For what: Another way to quickly replace the corresponding application on your smartphone, a program on your computer, or a widget in the notification center. After the first search we will get a convenient online calculator.
How: use any mathematical signs +,-,*,/ with numbers
19. Meaning of the word
For what: Of course, this method will not replace a capacious and useful note from explanatory dictionary, but you can quickly find the desired meaning, understand what is being said or recognize the emphasis.
How: value search_word
Many users of the Google search engine, resorting to its help, notice that it is often not always possible to find the information you need the first time. Perhaps users believe that these are shortcomings of the search engine itself, but this is not always the case. Sometimes, in order to find very specific information, you need to resort to the help of special tools (operators) of a given search engine.
How to search on Google correctly?
To begin with, do not forget that Google’s search algorithm is case insensitive; in other words, if you enter “Russia” or “Russia” into the query, the search result will not change. However, this search engine is very sensitive to the algorithm of search operators, which is why search results for the queries “Windows OR Linux” and “Windows or Linux” may differ radically.
The next thing to consider is that the Google search engine does not take into account many words - connectives, for example, such as “and”, “a”, “but” and the like. For this reason, the search results do not depend in any way on their use.
Thirdly, in order to search correctly in this search engine, you should remember the presence certain operators(symbols or words that clarify the search) and learn how to use them.
Such operators are used not only by Google, but also by other search engines, for example, Yandex.
So, Google operators who will help you find the information you need:
«+» - it is better to use when you need to find documents containing more than two words, for example, “SEO + tools”.
«-» - should be used to exclude from issuing documents containing any word, for example, “non-alcoholic drinks.” In this case, the search engine will only find alcoholic drinks.
"OR"- needed to search for documents containing one of several words, for example, “woman OR girl”.
«“”» - needed in order to find documents that contain a certain phrase in the same form in which it is used as search query, for example “buy TV Tver”
«~» - necessary to search for synonyms of words that are specified in the query, for example, “fashion ~ smartphones”.
«..» - used when it is necessary to find documents that contain numeric values at specified intervals, for example “300...500 rubles per day.”
There are also more popular Google operators for a correct search, among which the average user of this search engine may need the following.
"daterange:"- needed to search for documents created in a certain period of time, for example, “fire in Kyiv daterange:20092011-21102010”.
"filetype:"- used when searching for links to a document of a certain type, for example, “Solzhenitsyn’s autobiography filetype:rtf”.
"site:"- needed in order to find all pages of the site you need or pages of the site containing a specific word, for example, “site:dirfreesoft.ru antivirus”.
"phonebook:"- a very necessary operator who is looking for phone numbers By specified parameters, for example, “phonebook: hotels Omsk”.
It turns out it's not that hard to search Google correctly if you know how.
How to search correctly in Yandex?
The answer to this seems to be stupid question in fact, not all Yandex users know. The reason is that greatest number Users of Internet resources do not fully use the capabilities of search programs, which is precisely why, in certain cases, many search engine users may encounter some obstacles and difficulties when finding the necessary information.
Well, how to correctly use the Yandex search engine - the most popular search engine in the Russian-language segment of the World Wide Web?
1. If you need to find a specific, specifically formulated phrase. It is most convenient to search for such phrases using the " " operator; in other words, in order to find a web document in which the phrase you need is located, it should be typed in quotation marks. For example, "Which files can be excluded from virus scanning?"
2. If you need to find a quote, but you have forgotten some words or simply don’t know. There is no difficulty in this. In this case, you should enclose the entire phrase in quotation marks, and put the “*” sign in place of the forgotten words. For example, “I’m coming to you * what more.”
3. If you need to generate results based on several words or phrases at the same time. For such an operation, the | operator should be used; it should be used after each searched word or phrase. For example, raspberries | strawberries | strawberry.
4. If you have to find several words that are in one sentence. When performing this task, you need to use the & operator, it must be placed between the search words. For example, the monument to Mayakovsky & Samara.
5. If you need to find a document that contains a particular word. To do this, use the + operator. It should be used before the search words and should not be separated by a space. The request may also contain clarifying words or phrases. For example, a monument to Chapaev + a square.
6. If you need to exclude documents that contain any specific word from your search. Then you need to use the operator -. It is placed before the words that need to be excluded and is not separated by a space. For example, buy a modern laptop.
7. If you need to find information only from a specific site. In this case, the site operator will help. It is used simultaneously with a colon and is placed immediately before the name of the site. For example, PDF site:dirfreesoft.ru
8. If you need to find documents of one type or another. When searching for such files, you should use the mine operator. It is also used with a colon. For example, instructions for HTS mine:doc.
9. If you need to find information in a specific language. For this task, you need to use the lang operator, after which you should put a colon and specify the selected language for the documents you are looking for. For example, Angels and Demons lang:ru.
Most of the time a user spends on the Internet is spent searching for information that interests him. At the same time, there are many ways to obtain this data - you can look into an online encyclopedia and try to find the answer there, you can subscribe to a newsletter on a topic of interest and carefully study incoming correspondence, or you can consult with competent people on the forum by asking them a question. But the most universal method Find something on the Internet - use one of the many search engines. Services for searching millions and millions of websites are, perhaps, the fundamental link World Wide Web. Without Google, Yahoo, Yandex and many other search engines familiar today, a user’s stay on the Internet would be more like a blind man walking through the forest. The importance of search engines for working on the Internet can hardly be overestimated - for many users, start pages the addresses of search engines are indicated, and it is from them that for many people an endless journey through various network resources begins. However, the effectiveness of Internet excavations is different for everyone - one person finds information instantly, another takes a lot of time, and a third may not find anything useful for himself at all. What is the reason? The answer is simple: searching on the Internet is akin to fishing - you need to know where to fish and what to fish for, i.e. where to look and how to look. In today's article we will talk about the best way to search on the Internet, and tell you what search engines exist for this, besides those that are “on everyone’s lips.”
However, we will start with those systems that you know. If a user knows the address of a search engine, this does not mean that he knows how to use it. Let's check how well you understand search query technology. How accurate the results you will get, first of all, depends on how skillfully you formed the search query. For example, if you are looking for information to write a term paper, you do not need to enter its topic verbatim, especially if the work has a narrow specialization. You will find much more valuable information if you try to select keywords, that is, those words that will definitely appear in your work. If you are looking for a lost manual for your car radio, entering the model number will probably get you great amount sites offering to purchase it. To weed out unnecessary links, you can use the search function in the found or exclude some words from the search. In almost every search engine you will find an advanced search function. This is another one good way weed out unnecessary results. Such functions may include searching for pages that have been recently updated, searching for pages only in a certain language, or on sites located in the domain zone you specify. The time spent searching can be significantly saved if you know and use the query language syntax. Each search engine has its own characteristics. For example, when you are looking for something on Yandex, it would be a good idea to use the following techniques:
- To search for words that should appear on the page in one sentence, put the & symbol between them
- To exclude a specific word from search results, add it to your query by prefixing it with ~~
- To find pages that contain at least one of the words specified in the search query, separate them with |
- To search for a word in the specified form, put an exclamation mark in front of it
- To search for information on a specific site (and only on it), enter its address in the query field, preceded by the word site and a colon (for example, site:http://www.site)
- To search for a phrase that should appear on the page in its entirety, put it in quotation marks
- To exclude pages that contain a specific word from search results, add it to your query by placing a minus sign in front of it
FindSounds.com - searches for sounds
This resource is intended for those users who are in creative search. The resource allows you to search for sound files different formats- wav, mp3, aiff, au. The resource database contains a wide variety of sounds - animal screams, grinding cars, ringing, knocking, sirens, buzzing insects, the roar of explosions and gunfire, splashing water, etc. Sound files can be searched by different criteria, for example, by size, the presence of two or one sound channels (stereo/mono), sampling frequency and sound bit depth. In the search results, the resource shows not only links to the found files, but also their main characteristics, and also shows a graph of the sound amplitude, which can be used to judge the nature of the sound of a given sample.The FindSounds database of sound effects can be used in the most different areas- from developing computer games and other applications, to creating presentations and all kinds of clips. The search engine can be useful, for example, for those who create interactive web graphics and want to add variety to the site by accompanying the clicking of page navigation elements with different sounds.
Gnod.net - will select music, books and films to suit your tastes
When a person has a desire to read a new book, listen to some new music or watch a movie, he, as a rule, turns for advice to his friend or acquaintance, who in his eyes has authority. However, finding someone who would agree to express their opinion on this issue is not so easy. Firstly, not everyone likes to give advice, because when recommending something to another, a person takes on a share of responsibility, and many are stopped by the question “What if he doesn’t like the film that I recommend?” Secondly, the person who gives advice must understand what exactly the interlocutor will like, and what will be completely uninteresting. After all, the color and taste, as they say... But there is an easier way to get good advice- use a special search engine that is made specifically for this purpose. So you wanted to listen new group, but there is no time or desire to look good music. The gnod.net resource will ask you for several names of musical artists that you like, analyze the results and offer your own version of a singer or group that you should also like. The service has several databases - by musical performers, based on films, books and people. Thus, the resource includes four services: Gnod Music, Gnod Books, Gnod Movies and Flork. The latest service, Flork, is a social experiment in discovering people who are interested in communicating with each other. We were happy to test the music section of this service and introduced three artists - Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Beatles and Hollies. Our selection was not random - these three groups belong to the era of the sixties, to an interesting phenomenon called the British Invasion. All these bands played a beat, and the search engine had to suggest a band or artist in the same style. And so it happened. The result offered to us is the group Archies, which in the late sixties was on the lips of all Americans with their cheerful song Sugar Sugar. After playing with the search engine for some time, we came to the conclusion that gnod.net more often gives good advice, but he doesn’t make mistakes very often. For clarity, the search engine can provide the results of its “advice” in the form of an animated cloud with the names of groups, authors or films. The database can be replenished independently by having “conversations” with the search engine and answering its questions in the style of “I like this” or “I don’t like this.”Alldll.net - finds library files
We recommend that you immediately bookmark this search engine, as sooner or later it will definitely come in handy. Probably everyone has at least once encountered the problem of a missing dll library in their system. This usually results in programs or games refusing to launch and the message "Couldn't find *****.dll" appearing on the screen." There can be many reasons for this, for example, the file is missing incorrect deletion a previously installed application, accidental file corruption, etc. In addition, the developer could simply not include this library in the distribution of his product.It’s very easy to fix the situation - just find it on the Internet missing file, download it and copy it to the directory of the program that refuses to start, or to the folder ..WINDOWSsystem32... You can find and download the missing file easily and quickly using this service. The resource www.alldll.net is a search database of the most popular dll libraries. The files are sorted alphabetically and there is a search function. You can search for the file you are looking for even if you only know the approximate name of the library. It is enough to start entering text in the request field, and at the bottom of the page a huge list of files will appear that begin with the letters that were typed.
Medpoisk.ru - search for medical information
Despite the fact that this search engine uses the search engine from Google, this in no way reduces its value. Medpoisk.ru is a universal search engine that is designed to search exclusively on medical sites. This site - great tool for every physician and everyone who wants to get an answer to any question in the field of medicine. How to treat this or that disease, what are the contraindications for this or that medicine, which doctor to see - all this and much more can be found out by “asking” a search engine. The search engine includes a labor exchange and can be used to search for work among medical workers. The resource also contains a catalog of medical institutions sorted by region. Among these institutions are the addresses of clinics, medical centers of various specialties, maternity hospitals, diagnostic centers, beauty salons, etc. We sincerely wish you to use this search service solely out of curiosity, and not out of necessity.Taggalaxy.de - search for images and photos
You may have heard about popular service for sharing graphic files Flickr.com ? This is the same service that was blocked by the Chinese authorities in 2007 after photographs of the sad events of 1989 in Tiananmen Square, located in the Chinese capital Beijing, appeared on its pages. Flickr.com is one of the first Web 2.0 services, and the number of images uploaded by users is in the billions. The number of pictures uploaded to the servers of this service is so large that in order to find a specific image in this ocean of photographs and paintings, a separate search engine is needed. The service offers an image search service, but there is more interesting way search for pictures - using unusual search engine taggalaxy.de. This search service is a tool for searching images on Flickr.com, with preview. What makes it unusual is the search interface, which is completely three-dimensional. The process of searching for a keyword is reminiscent of some computer game- different celestial bodies fly in outer space, between which you can move in the virtual world.After the keyword query is completed, a system of the sun and planets that revolve around the star will appear on the screen. Each celestial body has its own purpose and is “signed” with a word. At the center of the galaxy is the sun, key query, all other bodies are auxiliary words, clarifications. If you click on the sun, this object will come closer, and photographs will fly towards it from all sides and surround it, the content of which is determined by the search query. This three-dimensional model with photographs can be rotated in virtual space, examining in detail and searching for the image of interest. After this, just click on the picture to enlarge it in size, and then you can better examine it and read the description.
While working with this search engine, you can use the scrolling function - it allows you to zoom in or out of three-dimensional planets. The remaining planets that are visible in the search engine interface after the request are auxiliary words that allow you to clarify the request. For example, if you enter “Sky” into the search field, then among the qualifying words-planets there will be the words “clouds”, “sunset”, “blue” and other tags of similar meaning that users specified when using the Flickr.com service. The disadvantage of the search engine is that taggalaxy.de does not support the Russian language, so queries can only be entered in Latin.
Nigma.ru - filters results from other search engines
Among all the search engines that can be found on the Internet, there is a special group of search engines. It differs from all others in that they implement a multi-search function, that is, simultaneous search in several search engines. One of these multi-search systems is the Russian service Nigma.ru.Nigma contains its own resource base, but in addition it allows you to search immediately across all the most popular search engines, including Google, MSN, Yandex, Rambler, AltaVista, Yahoo and Aport. The mechanism for selecting results in this search engine differs from most accepted methods of site discovery. The fact is that the engine of this service uses clustering of results. What does this mean? Imagine that you decide to find out for yourself what “rendering” is. Having compared the results in different search engines, the Nigma.ru engine selected the most likely results and, at the same time, on the left side of the window, next to the list of search results, displayed the so-called clusters - “visualization”, “creation”, “system”, “rendering”, “process”, “studio max”, “computer graphics” and other words and phrases. These clusters represent a thematic group of found documents. This way, you can quickly narrow your search or specify your search query. In Nigma.ru, you can also use categories to limit the area from which results will be selected - for example, perform a search only taking into account music resources, or display results only for images. Another opportunity of this service may be of interest to schoolchildren and students. Nigma.ru offers the services Nigma-mathematics and Nigma-chemistry. The first is designed for quickly solving simple equations and various arithmetic operations, the second allows you to work with formulas of chemical reactions. The search service recognizes more than a thousand physical, mathematical constants and units of measurement, allowing you to quickly convert from one dimension to another.
Searchme.com - search engine with preview
Everyone knows that in order to find specific information online, you need to spend a lot of time. When viewing search results, the user basically opens resources at random, not knowing for sure whether he will find what interests him on the new page, or whether it will be a waste of time. The creators of the search service searchme.com thought about this problem and came up with it original solution. The essence of this solution was to create a search engine in which the user could look at a rough thumbnail of the page before it loaded. This would allow us to form an additional opinion about the seriousness of the resource and its content.The implementation of this idea was simply magnificent - the created search engine has a beautiful animated three-dimensional interface and shows search results in the form of an animated ribbon of thumbnails, thumbnail screenshots of web pages that include the search keyword. The tape with the results, like a film with old negatives, can be scrolled in the browser window using a special slider located under the string of images. The sketches are loaded instantly, so there are no delays in drawing the results. It is especially convenient to work with search results in full-screen mode - then you can even make out the text of articles in the thumbnails of the results. To appreciate the convenience of this system, just try browsing news resources. Photos for the main news on title page web publications will immediately make it clear which news on this resource is considered the most important.
The solution is a specialized torrent search engine. There are a lot of sites on the Internet that search for torrent resources. However, torrent-finder.com has an undeniable advantage over other search engines - this service allows you to search for files on a huge number of trackers simultaneously.
What is this
DuckDuckGo is a fairly well-known open source search engine. source code. Servers are located in the USA. In addition to its own robot, the search engine uses results from other sources: Yahoo, Bing, Wikipedia.
The better
DuckDuckGo positions itself as a search engine that provides maximum privacy and confidentiality. The system does not collect any data about the user, does not store logs (no search history), use cookies 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 based on data about the person in front of the monitor. This phenomenon is called the “filter bubble”: the user sees only those results that are consistent with his preferences or that the system deems as such.
DuckDuckGo creates an objective picture that does not depend on your past behavior on the Internet, and eliminates thematic advertising from Google and Yandex based on your queries. With DuckDuckGo it's easy to search for information on foreign languages: Google and Yandex by default give preference to Russian-language sites, even if the request is entered in another language.
What is this
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 one with the same name.
not Evil is not the only search engine of its kind. There is LOOK (default search in the Tor browser, accessible from regular internet) or TORCH (one of the oldest search engines on the Tor network) and others. We settled on not Evil because of the clear hint from Google (just look at the start page).
The better
Looking there where to Google, Yandex and other search engines are closed in principle.
Why do you need this
The Tor network contains many resources that cannot be found on the law-abiding Internet. And their number will grow as government control over the content of the Internet tightens. Tor is a kind of network within the Internet with its own social networks, torrent trackers, media, trading platforms, blogs, libraries and so on.
3. YaCy
What is this
YaCy is a decentralized search engine that works on the principle of P2P networks. Each computer on which the main one is installed software module, scans the Internet independently, that is, it is an analogue search robot. The results obtained are collected in common base, which is used by all YaCy members.
The better
It’s difficult to say whether this is better or worse, since YaCy is a completely different approach to organizing search. The absence of a single server and owner company makes the results completely independent of anyone's preferences. The autonomy of each node eliminates 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, not subject to influence government agencies and large corporations, then YaCy is your choice. It can also be used to organize a search within a corporate or other autonomous network. And even though YaCy is not very useful in everyday life, it is a worthy alternative Google from a search process perspective.
4. Pipl
What is this
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, the priority sources of information are profiles social networks, comments, lists of participants and various databases where information about people is published, such as databases of court decisions. Pipl's leadership in this area is confirmed by assessments from Lifehacker.com, TechCrunch and other publications.
Why do you need this
If you need to find information about a person living in the USA, then Pipl will be much more more effective than Google. The databases of Russian courts are apparently inaccessible to the search engine. Therefore, he does not cope so well with Russian citizens.
What is this
FindSounds is another specialized search engine. Looking for various sounds(house, nature, cars, people, and so on) in open sources. The service does not support queries in Russian, but there is an impressive list of Russian-language tags that you can search for.
The better
The output contains only sounds and nothing extra. In the search settings you can set the desired format and sound quality. All sounds found are available for download. There is a search for sounds by pattern.
Why do you need this
If you need to quickly find the sound of a musket shot, the blows of a suckling woodpecker, or the cry of Homer Simpson, then this service is for you. And we chose this only from the available Russian-language queries. On English language the spectrum is even wider.
But seriously, specialized service assumes a specialized audience. But what if it comes in handy for you too?
What is this
Wolfram|Alpha is a computational search engine. Instead of links to articles that contain keywords, it provides a ready-made answer to the user's request. For example, if you enter “compare the populations of New York and San Francisco” into the search form in English, Wolfram|Alpha will immediately display tables and graphs with the 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 a variety of fields, including science, culture and entertainment. If this database contains a ready-made answer to a search query, the system displays it; if not, it calculates and displays the result. In this case, the user sees only the necessary information and nothing superfluous.
Why do you need this
If you are a student, analyst, journalist, or researcher, for example, you can use Wolfram|Alpha to find and calculate data related to your work. The service does not understand all requests, but it is constantly developing and becoming smarter.
What is this
Metasearch engine Dogpile displays combo list results from search results Google, Yahoo and other popular systems.
The better
First, Dogpile displays fewer ads. Secondly, the service uses a special algorithm to find and show the best results from different search engines. According to the Dogpile developers, their systems generate the most complete search results on the entire Internet.
Why do you need this
If you can't find information on Google or another standard search engine, look for it in several search engines at once using Dogpile.
What is this
BoardReader is a system for text search in forums, question and answer services and other communities.
The better
The service allows you to narrow the search field to social platforms. Thanks to special filters, you can quickly find posts and user comments that match your criteria: language, publication date and site name.
Why do you need this
BoardReader can be useful for PR people and other media specialists who are interested in the opinion of a mass audience on certain issues.
Finally
The life of alternative search engines is often fleeting. Lifehacker asked the former general director of the Ukrainian branch of Yandex, Sergei Petrenko, about the long-term prospects of such projects.
Sergey Petrenko
Former CEO"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 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 popular niche, which, perhaps, has not yet grown enough to be noticeable on the radars of Google or Yandex, or they are testing an original hypothesis in ranking, which is not yet applicable in regular search.
For example, if a search on Tor suddenly turns out to be in demand, that is, results from there are needed by at least a percentage of Google’s audience, 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 for a significant proportion of users in a significant number of queries, results given without taking into account factors depending on the user seem more relevant, then Yandex or Google will begin to produce such results.
“Be better” in the context of this article does not mean “be better at everything.” Yes, in many aspects our heroes are far from Google and Yandex (even far from Bing). But each of these services gives the user something that the search industry giants cannot offer. Surely you also know similar projects. Share with us - let's discuss.
Astronomical search service This resource provides information search on sites whose topics are, in one way or another, related to astronomy. In total, the search engine database contains about four hundred sites on astronomical topics - observatory sites, amateur pages, libraries of scientific literature, etc.
One can only envy those whose profession is related to astronomy - there is a share of romance in the study of cosmic events. Nothing seems as interesting to a person as the area of the unknown. Maybe that’s why he so often turns his attention to space and tries to find the answer to the eternal question “Is there life in the Universe?” We, too, did not differ in originality and tried to ask the search engine the legendary question “Is there life on Mars?” There were so many answers, and they were all so interesting that, forgetting about everything, we plunged into reading hypotheses and looking at photographs and models of the Martian surface. In addition to the search function, the site has many other useful services, among which, for example, there is the English-Russian-English Astronomical Dictionary, a biographical reference book with detailed information about all scientists who contributed to the development of astronomy, a glossary of astronomical terms. There's also a handy star map that generates the positions of constellations based on the latitude and longitude of the viewing point, as well as the time of day.
Friv.com - free games for every taste!
Everyone needs search services - those who use them to write a dissertation, and those who want to find out the weather forecast or train schedule, and even those who have carved out five minutes of free time and just want to, as they say, fool around, play some kind of game. some simple computer game. For the latter category of users, this resource will be a real treasure trove of games.This is not exactly a search engine, although that is what Western observers call it (Game search engine). The site friv.com is, rather, a catalog, a collection of 264 Flash games collected on one page. Click any of the colorful icons and play for your health. On friv.com you will find any “office fun” - from Tetris and chess to adventure quests and shooters. The plot of many games is made with great humor and will undoubtedly appeal not only to you, but also to your friends.
VisualWorld.ru - search with associative links
Selection methodology correct results Each search engine has its own, unique one. For example, this search engine works on the principle of associativity. This search engine tries not only to correctly select web resources that correspond to a specific request, but also to suggest the direction of the search using associative words. So, if you enter a keyword or phrase into the query field, the result shown by the search engine will look like a set of associative words, a semantic cloud, and, of course, regular list sites selected by the search engine as a result of the search.A distinctive feature of VisualWorld.ru is the visualization of associative connections, i.e. creating a diagrammatic map showing connections between words that relate to similar topics. At first, this graph may seem like something incomprehensible and unusual, but after several search attempts you get used to it and use it to narrow the search area. The VisualWorld.ru search service can operate not only in associative search, but also ordinary. For more fast work with the system, there is a “light” version of the site - viwo.ru.
Briefly.ru - summary of any book
One can argue for a long time about whether the book will die or not, but the fact remains that today’s reader is not the one who leafs through the volume of Lermontov or Tolstoy, but rather the one who still knows how to read. Soon anyone who knows that Bender is a figment of the imagination of Ilf and Petrov, and not a hero of “Futurama,” and Homer is not a character from “The Simpsons” at all, but a completely adequate Greek who lived a couple of thousand years ago, will be able to consider himself a bibliophile. We think that the lost interest in literature is a temporary phenomenon, and the time will come when people will return to books. In the meantime, time dictates its own laws, and resources such as briefly.ru appear. You don't have to be particularly perspicacious to guess who it's intended for. this resource- of course, for schoolchildren and students. Why read a whole book if you can find out in a nutshell what old Maeterlinck wrote about? The website briefly.ru has collected a large number summaries to various books - from Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy to Shakespeare's Hamlet and Sholokhov's The Quiet Don. The content of works is sorted on the site by author, and there is a search function. We must pay tribute to the creators of this resource - they very carefully approached the selection of text for retelling, so most of the works are retold in literary language, everything is clear and ... interesting. Well, perhaps, among those who become familiar with the contents of these books, there will be someone who wants to recognize the book by reading it in the original. And not from the screen of a PDA or laptop, but from the white pages of an ordinary book, while this is still possible.Videoinet.ru - video search
This service searches for videos in various online video repositories, both domestic, for example RuTube.ru, and foreign. Everyone knows that the largest video archive is the service YouTube. However, in practice it turns out that our domestic services for storing videos are not inferior in any way, and in some ways they are better than the service owned by Google. Firstly, domestic services are more democratic when it comes to uploading videos - fortunately, in our country it has not yet occurred to anyone to sue for the fact that a music video or a fragment of a new blockbuster has been posted online for public viewing. Secondly, the content of the clips that our users upload to the server is closer and more understandable to us. Here, for example, is a report from one of the TV channels, which has already become a documentary, about the events that preceded the arrival of Sir Paul McCartney to Ukraine - it turns out that there is a village called Beatlya in Transcarpathia, in which local Hutsuls prepare “garna pisnya” for one of the Beatles. And here is another video where a drunk teacher from one of the capital’s universities is trying to give a lecture. The chance of seeing something like this on YouTube is much lower - this is what is close to our viewer, this is our mentality.You can search on the videoinet.ru service by tags, ratings and keywords that are related to the content of the clip. The service allows you to bookmark and create playlists from video clips.
Kartoo.com - search with results map
In a situation where long search search on the Internet did not bring any positive results, it is logical to assume that the search query was not made entirely successfully and should be formulated somehow differently. But the longer the user scrolls through the pages, the more difficult it is for him to use his imagination and figure out how else to describe his problem in one or two words. In this case, you just need to switch and try some completely different search service, for example, kartoo.com.The mere presence of an unusual search resource interface can push the user to the idea of formulating his query in a new way. And if we take into account that the results will be completely different from those produced by the previous search engine, we can assume that the chances of finding the answer in this case will be higher. The search service is completely different from ordinary search engines - its appearance is more reminiscent of an application window. After entering a query word, an animated character appears in the application window, which entertains the user while the results are prepared for display. This is followed by the construction of a map of the Internet, which determines the connections between the semantic content of various resources. This map clearly shows which area is closest to the topic of the selected resource and where you should look for information. Interestingly, the connections shown on the map can be edited, thereby defining the search area. On the map of Internet resources, sites are marked with different icons - those that have larger size icons are more likely to correspond to the search query. Using the kartoo.com search engine is very unusual, especially at first. But, nevertheless, you get used to some search features instantly - for example, very convenient site icons that make it possible to judge whether you have viewed this page or not. The search engine also stores a history of queries, which is very convenient if you need to return to some result. To do this, you can view the list of words requested in the search engine and remember which one led to a particular resource. The search engine, unfortunately, does not work well with Russian text. The search can be carried out in one of three modes - across the entire Internet, only on English-language pages, and using a “parent” filter. When the search engine finds a lot of pages that match the query, the search results are divided into pages (as in any search engine) and for each of them its own Internet map is created. Any result map can be saved and then reused for searching.
Webbrain.com - specification of the search area
Visual presentation of search results is a common feature among alternative search engines. The closest and most understandable way to demonstrate the search area is a diagram, which, one way or another, is used by the creators of alternative search engines in unusual interfaces. The webbrain.com service is an attempt to make a search system in which the user could not only sort through the results in a row, but also choose the direction of the search. The search service works very simply. The user enters a query, after which a diagram of words that define the semantic search area is built at the top of the page, and a standard list of sites that meet the query requirement is shown at the bottom of the browser window. In the center of the diagram is the keyword that most closely matches the topic of the request. Sometimes the central word can be used to judge how “correctly” the search engine identified the meaning of the query. Well, this is true, although, to tell the truth, it seems to us that it would be more logical to see another word in the center of the diagram, for example “fresh IT” news" or "computer". The inaccuracy of the results of this search engine is explained by the meager database of indexed sites, but the idea itself is interesting and, perhaps, will someday be continued. In order to be able to work with webbrain.com, you must have installed component Java Virtual Machine, Internet Explorer, Firefox or Netscape.
Agakids.ru - children's search engine
When a child strives to learn a computer, this should be encouraged in every possible way. But you shouldn’t let him search for answers to his questions on Google or a similar “adult” search engine on his own. After all, even if the search engine has the function of limiting search results taking into account unwanted content, this only means that when the filter is turned on, pornography and violence will not disappear completely, but will appear less often on the results pages. No search service can guarantee a completely “clean” list of results. Parental control programs do not completely solve this problem either.But there is one very good way out from the situation - to invite the child to work with a special children's search engine agakids.ru. This service is designed in such a way that it searches exclusively for those resources that have been added to the agakids.ru database and have been approved by the creators of the service. The search service can also find useful information for parents - it will tell you how to raise children correctly, how to take care of their health, etc. The site also operates a children's Internet radio that broadcasts various fairy tales, children's songs, stories and much more. To make it interesting for a child to use this search engine, working with the results can be done in visual search mode, when the found pages are shown in the form of a beautiful animated series of screenshots of the main page of the sites. Adults will probably find it more convenient to work in text mode.
Eyeplorer.com - online encyclopedia search
When creating this unusual search engine, the creators sought to make it as “smart” as possible, capable of precisely tuning to the search question. Having decided that there is no more universal database than that contained in encyclopedic articles, the creators of the service came to the conclusion that new search The ovik should be created on the basis of Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia. Created by German programmers, eyeplorer.com visualizes search results and allows you to refine your search. Eyeplorer.com is a very convenient tool for quickly finding brief information in a specific area. The search engine looks like pie chart. At the center of this diagram is a search box. After the query is completed, search results begin to be dotted on this diagram, and these results look like link tags that help the user uncover the essence of the question. Links in this diagram lead to online encyclopedia pages. For greater convenience, the scale of the diagram can be changed using a special slider. Any tag moved into the query field automatically starts a new search and the chart rebuilds the results map. You can refine your search query by adding additional words, clarifying the essence of the issue. To the right of this diagram there is a notepad onto which you can drag comments-links to the diagram tags, a kind of online bookmark.Picollator.ru - search by image content
When you enter a query on most popular search engines that offer searches for image files, you get results based on what text appears on the page as well as the names of the files. But the lesser-known search engine Picollator works completely differently. This system identifies what is shown in the pictures. Naturally, with this approach, the search query should not be formulated as a word or phrase, but as a picture.That's exactly what it is: upload a photo to the server or provide a link to a site where it has already been uploaded, and after a few seconds you will see thumbnails of images similar to the uploaded photo. The service has some limitations: it only works with photos of people. In addition, to get an acceptable result, the original photo must be good quality- the person’s face on it should be clearly visible, and it is also advisable that it should not be turned.
Kwmap.net - will suggest search directions
The slogan of this site under the search form “Keymap of the whole Internet” fully corresponds to the essence of this search engine. The kwmap.net service visualizes the results found in the simplest and most visual way imaginable - in the form of a road map, somewhat reminiscent of a subway map. The nodes of this map are the keywords found by the search engine. The point at the intersection of paths is the central word, the same one that was entered into the search engine query field.The search engine partly does the user’s work - in case of an unsatisfactory result, you don’t have to rack your brains over which question to ask more precisely - just look at visual representation search results and select one of keywords. In other words, using these key expressions, you can control the direction of the search.
