Search engines are perceived as declining in quality, a phenomenon called 'enshitiffication.' Many alternatives depend on larger services like Bing, which impairs their reliability. In response, the EU supports projects like OpenWebSearch, aiming to create a web index for future independent search engines. The initiative uses Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) tools to maintain an up-to-date database. Existing European search engines like Ecosia and Qwant are also adapting by developing the European Search Perspective to enhance their services. Paying for ad-free search options, such as Kagi, is another emerging solution.
If you ever get the impression that search engines are getting worse, or that alternatives are not all they seem, it's not just you. It's what journalist Cory Doctorow calls 'enshitiffication.'
One such project is the EU-backed OpenWebSearch initiative. Its web presence reflects that this is a research effort; it doesn't have anything to sell you, so there's no elevator pitch here.
The OpenWebSearch database is built using existing FOSS tooling, and it's not a static, monolithic snapshot - tools to keep the petabyte-scale index up to date are part of the effort.
Another option is to pay for your search engine. Kagi - a no-ads, no-tracking search engine with a tiered payment model - from a year ago makes interesting reading.
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