Exploring the Alternatives

[Brittany]

Nothing lasts forever in the world of search engine optimization. The world may worship Google for now, but it wasn't so long ago when Yahoo! was at the top. It's safe to assume that 2004 will be a year full of change, but one can only wonder whether it will bring excitement or frustration.

Inspired by this discussion, which contains alternatives to DMOZ, we thought it would be interesting to explore some alternatives to Google.

Try to take some time this week to review a search engine you've never used before and share your thoughts. You may review the search engine from the end user's perspective, or you can go a step further and actually submit your site to the search engine, then provide a review it from a website owner's perspective. It's up to you!

A few things to consider:

Are the search results useful?
Is the interface user-friendly?
Would you recommend using this search engine?

Start off the new year by trying a new search engine -- and tell us what you think! We'll be featuring the responses to this thread in an upcoming issue of WebProWorld, so stay tuned...

[rambodog]

Some of the metasearch engines are using document clustering technology from Visimo http://vivisimo.com/ . While Vivisimo is more of a technology provider they do have a search function at their site pulling information from partners and I am now finding Vivisimo is frequently returing better business results on my searches than Google. Google seems to be intentionally excluding the business sites I am looking for and forcing useless (to me) university and informational sites to the top of the listings. It is only because of the Florida update I have found the need to seek a better search. For the moment, it appears to be Vivisimo for many of my searches.

Just as Google was cleaner and had better results than Yahoo at one point we may be seeing a new twist. Google is still easier to spell however. I have big hopes for Microsoft spending some of their seemingly never-ending cash reserves on search offerings.

[OneMoreBite]

Checking out Vivisimo.com I see this:

Problem occurred while using Vivísimo::
Currently under heavy load. Please try again shortly

Yeah, sure, try again. I don't think so. That's not good. I liked Vivisimo a year or so ago, but stopped visiting there - it was such a brain drain to remember the name, and then to run into "too busy?"

Kathryn

[rambodog]

Yes, that name is an issue. As I see now on WebProWorld's home page, several news stories on Google alternatives are giving Vivisimo a busier than normal workout today.

You might also try www.alltheweb.com which is returning "non-Googleized" results that look more appropriate. Hmm, Google could become a synonym for manipulated. Also, www.dogpile.com often gives good results but wading through top results for multiple search engines (metasearch) can be trying also.

[TrafficProducer]

I've said a few times that people are too busy looking at Google, this makes then miss other up and coming search engines.

For a worldwide list view
http://home.inter.net/takakuwa/search/search.html

[janeth]

I like http://www.altavista.com a lot abd they return good results

For the smaller search engines or up an coming I like http://www.webworldindex.com/


But still find myself using Google a lot even though I try not to.

[ldyguique]

CNN's Technology section picked up the AP story about Vivisimo and Grokker, etc., and Vivisimo plainly states: CNN Overload!
please bear with us...

Hopefully, enough will bookmark the link and return when it's not so heavily impacted. I tried it out multiple times yesterday and found it a useful searching tool; i.e., I got what I wanted with the least amount of revised search strings. I liked the layout of the returns; however, until one works with something repeatedly and comparitively, it's hard to determine whether it'll win out in the end.

I remember when I first started online and Yahoo was "it." I found it very awkward and cumbersome and fairly irrelevant or too exclusive to too few sites. I read a review on Web Ferret (it utilized multiple search engines) and tried that out - ended up paying for it; however, as time went on the sheer overwhelming number of hits that were completely irrelevant made it less and less useful (this was when meta tags were just taking off and many porn sites included many irrelevant words). I moved over to Copernicus, which seemed "ok," but Google was picking up the buzz. I loved Google!

However, the net has continued to grow at an exponential rate, cheats and scams are diluting relevcancy, and I'm willing to switch over and test out something that's where Google was long ago.

When I'm researching a topic, I need an array of different perspectives on the same keywords, all highly relevant. I'm willing to eventually trek through as many sites as needed until the information gels into something that I can extrapolate my answer(s).

When I went back to college in the 80s, I found that I learned best by reading several authoritative works on a subject--far better than attending classes. I would periodically drop by my classes, buy the class notes through the student union, and keep slogging away through more and more books. When it came time to write my paper(s) or take my exams, I was fully prepared.

I use the net similarly now, especially for "quick" topics or a quick review of material that I once knew well. I still buy books for comprehensive information that can be perused and pondered; however, the web has certainly become a major tool in learning.

Many who come in here are primarily concerned with PR or where their sites come up. I care about valid data and want relevant sites, not just ones that have been optimized ohsocarefully, but are pale imitations of the content that I want.

[ronniethedodger]

You might also try www.alltheweb.com which is returning "non-Googleized" results that look more appropriate. Hmm, Google could become a synonym for manipulated. Also, www.dogpile.com often gives good results but wading through top results for multiple search engines (metasearch) can be trying also.

I tend to use different search engines for different purposes. Most of the time it is Google still.

But I like AllTheWeb for doing backlink checks with. They seem to know about a majority of them out there, and it is very revealing sometimes. I have noticed links pop up out of nowhere when checking, and have no idea why they were there...but there they are.

DogPile is good for doing quick checks of how you are doing everywhere else. ;0) But they also have the radio buttons for "most relevant" and "by search engine". It lets me see how I am doing "across the board".

AltaVista on the otherhand, I use it for a very special purpose. This is the only search engine that I can find sites that use a certain "free tracker". Plus I can combine that query with certain "keywords". This is my secret people, don't tell anyone about it. ;0) But I can find stats on these sites and which keywords and SE's are doing the referring with. Yep, Alta Vista is cool one to use.

From first glance Vivisimo it looked comparable to DogPile...but the clustering stuff was interesting. Do not understand how all that works...but it wasn't showing too much relevancy on the few searches I did. I will have to look at it in more depth I guess.

[fathom]

Is it possible that MSN or Yahoo (with Inktomi) will give Google a run for their money... sure or some other possible obscure search as Google did back in '98.

Speculation is what it is... but an 80% market share is difficult to let go... meaning if you are looking around attempting to appreciate who will top the top in the near or distance future -- you're not looking at the top today - thus less appreciate where to improve "today".

When the Yahoo press release comes out that they are no longer with Google -- is when I start looking at contenders.

[minstrel]

In addition to the WebProWorld topic Brittany mentioned, there were also some discussions here about Google alternatives in the past few months, including these two:

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=8415

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=9250