Cool Dude Explains - 10 Google Alternatives for a Truly Secure Search Experience

Short Summary

Main recommendation: The video recommends switching from Google to privacy-focused alternatives, presented as a countdown from 10 to 1. The promised list of 10 Google alternatives is SearXNG, Startpage, Mojeek, Brave Search, Qwant, Ecosia, Kagi, Marginalia Search, Yep.com, and Alexandria. The common thread is search that avoids tracking, ads, and personalization, or that supports creators and the public good.

Key Points

• 10 Google alternatives (the promised list):
  1. SearXNG – a community-run meta search engine that pulls results from many engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo) and strips out tracking, ads, and personalization.
  2. Startpage – delivers Google's and Bing's results without tracking, by paying them for access and removing identifying information; Netherlands-based, operating since 2006.
  3. Mojeek – an independent search engine with its own crawler, index, and algorithm, based in the UK and operating since 2004.
  4. Brave Search – the search engine of the Brave browser, with its own independent index, no tracking, and custom filtering through Goggles.
  5. Qwant – a French, privacy-focused engine built on GDPR-protected European law, operating since 2013.
  6. Ecosia – a Bing-based engine that gives 100% of profits to climate action, with over 80% going directly to tree planting, based in Germany.
  7. Kagi – a paid, no-ads search engine that gives users control over domains and ranking.
  8. Marginalia Search – a single-developer engine that surfaces obscure, non-commercial web pages, presented as the spiritual successor to Gigablast.
  9. Yep.com – built by Ahrefs, it shares 90% of its ad revenue with the websites appearing in its results.
  10. Alexandria – an Internet Archive open-source project that searches books rather than the web, pointing to where books can be found.
• Several engines (SearXNG, Startpage, Brave Search, Qwant, Mojeek) emphasize not tracking users, and the video contrasts this with business models built on ads and data.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: Try SearXNG by picking one of the many public instances and searching, or host your own since it is open source. Switch Ecosia on as your default to support tree planting. Set Yep.com as your default to share ad revenue with creators. Use Brave Search's Goggles to create custom filters that prioritize or block content. Use Kagi's features to block unwanted domains and prioritize trusted sources. Use Marginalia Search by keyword or category to find obscure, non-commercial pages. Use Alexandria to search by title, author, or topic to locate books in libraries, bookstores, or online.
• Kagi is paid, around $5 to $10 a month depending on the plan, and has no free tier.
• Ecosia publishes monthly financial reports and says it has planted over 250 million trees.
• Qwant says the European Parliament recently adopted it as its official search engine, replacing Google.
• Marginalia replaces Gigablast, which the video says shut down in 2023.
• Yep.com launched in 2022 and is described as still in its early days.

Bottom Line

Most of these alternatives trade Google's ad-driven, tracked results for engines that protect privacy, support creators, fund good causes, or surface content mainstream search buries, with several being free and a few paid.