The 4 Best Search Engines of 2024: Choose Your Fighter
If you’ve been wondering what’s beyond Google Search and want to explore the best search engines of 2024, this is your place. These tools are essential for navigating the internet — as vast as it is — and we all know Google has been leading since it was created back in 1997, but what about exploring other options? Today you’ll learn that other search engines care about privacy, have unique features and provide with specialized results, so maybe you end up finding the alternative to Google you didn’t know you needed.
That said, this article will study in detail which are the 4 best search engines of 2024 while talking about their key features, benefits, and the differences between one and another so that you can decide whether they may be useful for you or not. Be ready, for you’re about to expand your horizons!
1️⃣ Google Search
Before dethroning the one and only search engine, Google Search, we should talk about the reasons why it became so popular and which elements took it to the zenith it stands today. Although Google Search wasn’t the first search engine invented in internet’s history, it soon became dominant due to some innovations and factors that we’ll be explaining right away:
- PageRank. If Google brought something really fascinating to the table, that was its algorithm called PageRank, which evaluated the quality of web pages over the keywords used. This led to a more relevant search results and made Google really helpful for users.
- Simplicity. One of the best features that Google offers is its simplicity when it comes to design, which is clean, simple and fast. You may have seen other search engines where it’s crowded with ads, directories, or news, while Google Search keeps a minimalist design that just includes the search bar and the logo.
- Results. We mentioned this before, but Google can brag about having the best accurate and relevant searches in comparison to other search engines. This is thanks to the algorithms, which are innovative and help to build trust among its millions of users.
However, Google Search has also been criticized for a bunch of reasons, such as users’ privacy concerns when it comes to data collection and tracking — can you imagine the amount of personal information that is gathered every day? Its monopoly power is also a problem as this dominance allows Google to dictate the rules of online search and the way advertising works.
Visit Google Search at google.com
2️⃣ Ecosia
Do you care about the environment and nature? Say no more: Ecosia must be your choice between the best search engines of 2024. In case you don’t know this search engine, let’s just define it for what it is: the search engine that plants trees. Every search you make with Ecosia will be contributing to plant trees in vulnerable areas — in fact, they’ve already planted nearly 210 million trees and have dedicated another 85 million euros to climate action. Isn’t it great to help by just being online?
Apart from being eco-friendly and supporting a great cause, Ecosia has so much more to offer:
- Privacy-Friendly. What could you expect from such a search engine? Unlike Google’s case, Ecosia is committed to protecting their users’ privacy. This search engine doesn’t create personal profiles of users, neither it sells user data to third-party advertisers. Moreover, Ecosia minimizes tracking thanks to the avoidance of third-party trackers.
- Transparency. Another element that says a good thing about this search engine is their transparency, which they achieve publishing monthly financial reports that show how much they’ve made thanks to users’ searches and how they spend it in reforestation.
- Ethical Model. Lastly, Ecosia has a social business model where they reinvest their profits into environmental and social projects — it’s not all about the trees — instead of making profit for other shareholders. They hold a certificate as B Corporation, which means they meet the standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
Ecosia may offer lots of great features and, above all, an incredible sense of responsibility towards nature and environment, but it sure has one or two cons we’d like to share with you. One of them is its limited features because, unlike other search engines such as Google, that includes reverse image search, voice search, or specialized search filters, Ecosia is more basic in those terms. It’s also slower and ads are present in your searches in order to get revenue for a good cause, which can be disturbing for some users.
3️⃣ DuckDuckGo Search
Contrary what ducks usually do with their moms — follow them everywhere —, DuckDuckGo Search will do anything for you but tracking your activity on the internet. This makes it the perfect search engine for those who are tired of personalized ads and having their data collected and sold to third parties, but also if you want a clean and simple design for your searches. In fact, there are more than 4.5 billion users making use of DuckDuckGo Search every month, so we had to include in our list of best search engines of 2024.
Apart from being tracking-free, these are the most popular features of DuckDuckGo search engine:
- Anonymous Browsing. Thanks to its encrypted connections — whenever it’s possible —, users get an extra layer of security when being online. Also, DuckDuckGo blocks third-party trackers on websites and prevents advertisers from following our steps across the internet.
- Search Filtering. Another great feature of this search engine is that it allows users to filter explicit content thanks to a feature called “Safe Search”. You can turn it on or off whenever you can and also choose a specific region in case you want more relevant or localized content.
- !Bangs Feature. The third and most unique feature that DuckDuckGo has is its !bangs functionality, one that allows users to search in other websites by typing a shortcut, which is ‘!w’ followed by a query, and then you’ll be taken to the search results for that query on Wikipedia, for example.
Despite DuckDuckGo’s excellence in terms of privacy and simplicity, it does have some limitations when it comes to results quality or advanced features. We must keep in mind it has a small market share and a limited language support, which can be a drawback for some users.
Visit DuckDuckGo Search at duckduckgo.com
4️⃣ Microsoft Bing
While Google holds the first position whenever we speak of search engines, Microsoft Bing could easily be stepping on its toes. You’ll be able to search text, image and video in its visually appealing interface and get rewards with your searches thanks to the Microsoft Rewards program. Let’s take a close look at its more important features:
- Integration with Microsoft. If you’re a Windows user instead of Apple or even Linux, it’s going to be really easy for you to get used to it. Bing is integrated with Windows through the Windows Search bar and Cortana, the virtual assistant you may or may not have used yet.
- Rewards Program. We’ve mentioned this before, but we strongly believe this is one of the best qualities of Microsoft Bing search engine when it comes to users’ satisfaction. This program allows them to earn points for their searches which can be redeemed for gift cards, donations, and more.
- Local and Map Search. Finally, Bing also has map search features that include turn-by-turn directions, updates about the traffic, and lists of businesses. This provides a strong local search functionality and offers suggestions for when you want to find a new restaurant, read a review from that shop next to your house and so on.
What goes around, comes around and, in Microsoft Bing’s case, this wasn’t going to be any different. When we talk about its cons, one of the first things that comes into our minds is the presence of ads in search results, some privacy concerns users have been discussing, and the feeling of this search engine being less intuitive than Google, for example.
Visit Microsoft Bing at bing.com
To sum up all that we’ve been exploring in this article, there are search engines for every kind of user, and the one you choose will always depend on what your expectations and priorities are. These are the best 4 search engines of 2024, but don’t hesitate to explore others that may meet your expectations in ways maybe none of these do.