Most users don’t need multiple search engines. They just pick one and use it every day. The regular users who are not involved in digital marketing or SEO want such a search engine with a simple interface that would deliver relevant results and have accessible options to tighten or broaden the search. Generally, the typical users need a search engine that will meet 99% of their needs.
However, for those who work with SEO and look for new traffic channels, we’ve created a list of top search engines. The number of all existing search engines is naturally much bigger, but we’ve described the most loved by people, which means your target audience is definitely somewhere around. So, feel free to choose yours!
Table of Contents
Which is the Best Search Engine?
What is the most popular search engine? No doubts, it is Google. The majority of all search queries accounts for Google, nearly 70%. But it would be wrong to focus on one search engine, even if it is the most popular one. If you’re running the website, try to catch your targeted audience from many other search engines.
When evaluating a search engine, base your selection on the following critical criteria:
- security and privacy
- indexing
- search relevance
Security implementation has recently become a vital issue because, as you know, many systems cannot realize it, leaking the whole database with third parties. That’s their way of making money, but the user will choose the most secure options over time.
Smooth indexing of the promoted content shouldn't be overlooked. Therefore, take into account the scanning speed.
Of course, if the safest software doesn't produce relevant results, then it's doomed to fail. Therefore, when choosing a search engine, ensure the search algorithms update frequently.
Otherwise, your competitors would engage your potential customers and have the advantage of you.
How Do I Know My Website Ranking on Google?
To attract more visitors, you should get higher on Google search. The best way to improve search engine ranking is to write interesting, unique content and find relevant keywords and add them to your page title, h1, h2, meta description, or in the text. To know where your website ranks on Google, you can use the best keyword rank checker tool.
Now we’ll review the top ten search engines and clarify various sources of traffic.
1. Google
This platform needs no introduction! It is a real Titan, and not only among PCs but also mobile devices. Talking about tablet search, we can tell that Google is even more popular. It takes nearly 70 thousand searches every second. Of course, each web admin is trying to optimize their web resources for Google following its algorithm. This engine always changes its algorithms, fights for high-quality content, and only has a white hat SEO strategy.
2. Bing
Bing is the second popular search engine. Microsoft has made an attempt to compete with Google, developing its own engine. Frankly speaking, they are too far from the most popular search engine, but their services are also useful and well-known. Bing is a default search engine on Windows PCs, but its search engine market share is only about 2.29%.
The developers are constantly improving their system for the users to receive better results, but they can’t reach Google’s share in the search engine market.
3. Yahoo
Yahoo’s search engine market share is nearly 1.52%. Among the people, it’s better known as an email provider. From 2011 to 2015, Yahoo search was powered entirely by Bing. Then, in 2015, Yahoo agreed with Google search-related services. As a result, Yahoo search is powered by these two search engines – Bing and Google. By the way, in 2014, Yahoo became the default search engine in the USA, but only for Firefox browsers. In 2018, it was replaced by Google.
4. Ask.com
Its official name is Ask Jeeves. This service isn’t popular, but it has nearly 0.72% of the search engine market share. The structure of this system differs from the top search engines. One user is asking, and the others are answering the given questions. The format is interesting and funny.
Moreover, Ask.com functions as other popular search engines as well. It provides you with the required search results; however, most users say the quality of such results is rather poor.
5. AOL.com
AOL is known as a search engine as well as a network. As a network, the system has many authoritative websites with high traffic in itself. As a search engine, AOL is not highly appreciated; its search engine market share is less than 0.06%. In 2015 AOL was purchased by Verizon Communications. Six years later, it announced an intention to sell AOL and Yahoo for $5 billion.
6. Baidu
Baidu is the most popular search engine in China. More than one billion queries are requested in Baidu per month. Alexa Rankings ranks this system at the fifth position. The market share of this Chinese search engine is consistently increasing. It was founded in 2000, but according to the digital analytics forecasts, it would grow.
7. WolframAlpha
WolframAlpha differs from other search engines. It even has its specific name: Computational Knowledge Engine. The users can find facts and interesting data for different topics, and also check various calculations made by this system. Based on numerous assumptions, users can receive calculations of their requests. Search engine traffic from WolframAlpha isn’t rich, but the system also has its audience, thanks to its peculiarities.
8. DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo has lots of unique advantages, and the fact that this search engine isn't tracking you is valuable. While other engines track users’ queries, even when they use private mode, DuckDuckGo doesn't do it. These guys are of principle! A clean interface is also an advantage - they don’t follow users with advertising. They don’t store users' search history. Therefore, the company has nothing to sell to advertisers who are trying to track their customers around the web. The privacy policy of this service is simple: they don't collect and don't distribute any personal information of users.
According to the forecasts of digital analytics, Duckduckgo will be increasing its search engine market share, but for now, it makes nearly 0.58%. But such a number is enough to serve more than 30 million queries every day.
Archive.org is a specific search engine. It allows seeing the website archive. In other words, you can know how this or that web resource looked years ago. You are able to check how the website’s interface and its web pages changed starting from 1996 and till the current version. It is a very useful tool for domain history analysis!
10. Yandex
Yandex is in the top 30 most popular web resources in web networks, according to Alexa. Alexa also gives it the high-rank fourth position in Russia.
This engine sets itself as a technology company that develops smart products and provides services useful for digital marketing. It is the largest search engine in Russia, with more than 55% of its search engine market share.
FAQ
What is the safest search engine?
The issue relating to major safest search engines causes controversy: some believe that you shouldn't even mess with Google because it tracks all your actions. As a result, countless lawsuits are filed against the corporation: for instance, one reason is information collecting even with incognito mode! Others are ardent supporters of DuckDuckGo: the FBI will never file charges because it simply won't find anything. It turns out that the most secure system is DuckDuckGo.
Note: one of the best alternative search engines is Startpage. It's possibly the first most closed software to offer reliable results. It applies Google search technology without any tracking or logging of user data. Interestingly, here visitors are protected by Dutch and EU privacy laws.
What is the most private search engine?
Most of the largest search engines in the world are information collection tools for advertising agencies. However, many commonly used systems focus on privacy, and one of them is DuckDuckGo. It stores queries but not for ID - total non-personal data improves misspellings. DDG earns money through advertisements (as Google) and affiliates (Amazon and eBay).
Is there any search engine that doesn’t censor?
Yes, and the top search engine is DuckDuckGo. It’s mainly focused on privacy and is uncensored. The other famous search engines are the French Qwant and Dutch Startpage. The first one is aimed at saving the digital ecosystem. The second one has the private browsing function called “Anonymous View,” which hides the IP address and user agent to other websites.
What are alternative search engines to Google?
Of course, all search engines name list is enormous. Thus, we built it based on the leading and most used characteristics. The best alternative search engines in 2021 are Bing and Yahoo. Privacy-first systems are DDG, Startpage, Qwant, Swiss cows, etc. Charity searches: giveWater, Ekoru, Ecosia. Format-specific: YouTube (video), Unsplash (images), Slideshare (presentations), GIPHY (GIFs).
What is the best search engine for images?
If you want to find beautiful wallpapers for your desktop or download free pictures for your content, there are several excellent software products. The biggest ones are:
- TinEye
- CC Search
- Flickr
All the resources allow the use of images for commercial purposes.
Conclusion
The list of all existing search engines is very long. The search engines' popularity differs from one country to another. When considering which one is the safest and best, keep in mind that Google and Bing are the most popular engines globally.
Of course, for SEO specialists, the future lies within those systems that occupy the most significant part of the market, but if you still decide on alternative options, you’d pay attention to DDG, Startpage, Qwant, Swiss cows. Today’s users extremely value their safety, and these search engines are reliable and safe. Don't forget that there are highly specialized searchers: for example, those for pictures, videos, and presentations. Choose the one that meets your requirements and perfectly fits the new SEO strategy!
