6 of 35

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

the answers from the results. It saves a lot of time in searching through pages for your answer, but the answers were inconsistent. I suppose that's the fault of the page creators and not so much of the search engine, though. If you're looking to go completely away from Google, you should know that this is a part of the answers.com company, which, as previous mentioned, uses Google-power.

Infomine (infomine.ucr.edu) is an attractive page that lets you break your search down by blanket topics. It's also got a .edu domain, telling me that it's a good reliable source, and it also boasts of searching for scholarly results. This should definitely be considered as a trustworthy option for your researching needs.

KartOO (www.kartoo.com) was a really interesting meta search engine. It creates visual maps of your results and lists the topics to the side for more relevancy. You can also scroll over the pictures and see the image of the website, too. Some of the pictures are a little strange, but it's the content that matters most. I was happy with this one.

Finally, there's Dogpile (www.dogpile.com). This site has been around for a while and is actually a great site aside from the fact that, like so many others, it's overshadowed by Google. What makes Dogpile so useful is that, as opposed to having to search various engines to make sure you get the most comprehensive list of results, it will automatically search all results from Google, Yahoo!, MS Live Search, and Ask.com. It brings up website thumbnails at the top that, when scrolled over, will give you a sample of the website content. It has the standard search features: web, images, audio, and video, but it also includes both yellow and white pages, as well as the news in its search options. My favorite feature is the SearchSpy, where you can get a list of what people are currently searching for (and it can be filtered or unfiltered for mature content).

My aim is not to discredit Google. I don't dislike it by any means. It's great for quick answers and it has a lot of wonderful features, such as Google Scholar or Calendar. That being said, if you're looking for an alternative, the aforementioned sites will provide you with sound results and something besides a plain white background.

Learn more about this author, P. N. Ame.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about Search engines: Viable alternatives to Google?
We want to hear your view. Write now!