• Russian search engines and leading Internet search engines. Cheat sheet on anonymous search systems

    In 2017, when the Internet contains millions of terabytes of information and every user's movement on the Internet is recorded, there is no way to do without anonymous search engines. After all, it is very important for all of us to get to the necessary data as quickly and as safely as possible. But do our dear readers know exactly how search engines translate entered characters into code? Do you realize that all requests immediately go to the marketing departments of corporations?

    The principle of operation of conventional search engines in 2017: anonymity at zero

    Google

    Let's go to Google search and see how it displays a link to a site, for example, whoer.net:


    Yandex search

    And this is how Yandex does it:

    As you can see, it’s not very obvious. In fact, this was done on purpose, and the typing is nothing more than a script that will process the “click” on the link and remember the user’s action.
    Today on our website we will talk about anonymous search engines that do not “pollute” the search with unnecessary scripts and do not store data about your search queries.

    The most popular anonymous search engine for 2017 is DuckDuck, which is the default search engine in the Tor anonymous browser.

    DuckDuck is also available for selection in Firefox and Opera browsers. The private search engine is famous for the fact that it does not use scripts in links and does not display advertising and viral sites in search results. DuckDuckGo allows the user to specify special characters and symbols in the query. And, as we have already said, the search engine does not monitor user actions.

    Displaying query results in the anonymous search engine DuckDuck

    As you can see, there are no hidden behavioral scripts here, but only a direct link!

    Benefits of DuckDuckGo

    Another positive aspect of the DuckDuckGo system is its full support for the https protocol. For now, this setting is disabled at the first user request, but it can be easily activated through the convenient main menu of the search engine. After performing this action, all searches will undergo additional encryption.

    IxQuick is called the most confidential search engine in 2017.

    The servers of this search engine are “equipped” with a powerful metasearch system. This means the following: after a search request, IxQuick displays results from a dozen search engines at once, combining them in its search window and assigning each link a unique rating, which is used for ranking.
    The screenshot above shows that the main queries are taken from Google, so you don’t have to worry about the relevance of the results.

    Privacy settings in the anonymous search engine IxQuick

    Despite all the production capacity, no “surveillance” is carried out on users; moreover, users’ IP addresses are not even recorded. However, each user can allow their search settings to be saved on the anonymous search engine server in the form of cookies, which will either be automatically deleted every three months or updated each time they visit the IxQuick home page.

    Pros and cons of IxQuick

    A huge advantage of IxQuick is metasearch associated with the anonymity of queries that the search robot “sweeps” using a complex network of data redirection from the original search engine to the user.
    Among the disadvantages of the IxQuick anonymous search, we can only note the fact that there is no Russian language in the interface.


    Already from the screenshot, an attentive reader can conclude that StartPage is a clone of the anonymous search engine IxQuick. That’s right: the history of this project originated earlier than IxQuick, but despite the fact that the site did not analyze or save the user’s search results, nevertheless, it lost the competition and was soon bought out by a more powerful rival.
    However, this site is still working, so we can recommend using a combination: in IxQuick, configure Bing as the main query provider, and in StartPage, set Google search as the default. This way you will get double anonymous search, easily comparing the results of your search data.

    The best Internet search engines. Internet search engine – These are special search programs installed on a whole range of specialized machines. In simple terms, it’s the same website with a set of programs, only on a special search engine (server). It is with the help of search engines that you find all the information you need. There are a lot of search engines.

    1. What is an Internet search engine

    2. Popular search engines in our country

    3. Popular search engines abroad

    4. Unusual search engines

    5. How to properly search for information on the Internet

    The most best psearch systems in our country:

    http://www.yandex.ru

    http://www.google.com

    http://www.aport.ru

    http://www.rambler.ru/

    http://go.mail.ru

    http://www.webalta.ru/

    The most unloved and intrusive search engine by all.

    Popular search engines abroad

    http://www.altavista.com

    http://www.alltheweb.com

    http://www. bing.com

    http://www.google.com
    http://www.excite.com
    http://www.lycos.com
    http://www.mamma.com

    http://www.yahoo.com

    http://www.dmoz.com
    http://www.hotbot.com
    http://www.dogpile.com
    http://www.netscape.com
    http://www.msn.com
    http://www.webcrawler.com
    http://www.jayde.com
    http://www.aol.com
    http://www.euroseek.com
    http://www.teoma.com
    http://www.about.com
    http://www.ixquick.com
    http://www.lookle.com
    http://www.metaeureka.com
    http://www.searchspot.com
    http://www.slider.com
    http://www.allthesites.com
    http://www.clickey.com
    http://www.galaxy.com
    http://brainysearch.com
    http://www.orura.com

    Each country has its own popular search engines.

    Unusual search engines

    • DuckDuckGo (https://duckduckgo.com/) - a hybrid search engine with a privacy policy for the user and his search queries.

    • TinEye (http://tineye.com/) is a search engine specializing in searching images on the Internet. It has recently lost its relevance after Google introduced the same function in its image search.

    • Guenon (http://www.genon.ru/) is a search engine that collects and creates content on its website.

    In almost every search engine, in addition to the search box, there are links to the most popular news sites, and sites of certain subjects.

    How to properly search for information on the Internet

    Each search engine has its own algorithms (rules) for searching for information.

    In order to find some information on the Internet through a search engine, you need to enter in the search field request. If you enter one word, then this request will give you thousands of links to sites where this word is mentioned.

    Therefore, it is necessary to enter as specific a query as possible, consisting of two, three or more phrases.

    Let's look at an example of a search engine query Yandex.

    Let's say you want to find information on buying a computer. If you write one word in the search box “ Computer", then you will get 133 million answers

    You need to ask a more specific request. It is better to indicate which computer you want to buy and where (in which city).

    Then the search engine will give you much fewer answers to your query.

    The search engine doesn’t care at all whether you enter your query in capital or small letters.

    Yandex distinguishes between nouns and adjectives, but completely ignores endings.

    He is also completely indifferent to cases, plurals and the like.

    To make the search more accurate, you need to put the query in quotation marks or put an exclamation mark before the word.

    Now look at the same query, but without the exclamation marks.

    Do you see the difference? With exclamation marks, the number of responses is not 2 million, but 186 thousand.

    If you put an exclamation point in front of a word with a capital letter, you will be given answers that contain that particular word with a capital letter.

    If the word is in the nominative case, and you need information about exactly that word, and exactly the way you wrote it, then put two exclamation marks in front of this word. For example: !!Ball .

    The search will give you answers for exactly this word " Ball" the way you wrote it. Not " ball", Not " balls", and with a capital letter.

    If you write a phrase with the word " on", then Yandex will ignore " on" For example: " on the shelf" The search will only be performed using the word " shelf ».

    In order for him to take it into account and not ignore it, it is necessary before the word “ on» put a plus sign – « +on ».

    Each search engine has its own search algorithm, so if you use a specific search engine and want to learn how to correctly compose queries, then you just need to type “ search rules inGoogle " or " search rules in Yandex ", follow the link in the response to your request and read the necessary information.

    Users are becoming more and more interested. We will tell you about three no-holds-barred search engines that do not collect personal information about you, but, on the contrary, protect your privacy.

    Startpage: The World's Most Discrete Search Engine

    Startpage.com calls itself "the world's most discrete search engine." Since 2016, the service has been merged with the Ixquick website. As proof of the security of its search, Startpage.com bills itself as the only search engine with an EU privacy certificate.

    Startpage.com promises not to store users' IP addresses and, according to the service, does not use cookies for tracking. Additionally, Startpage.com is accessible from the Tor network. The search engine's servers are located in the Netherlands. The site has a handy feature: search results can be viewed using the “Proxy” option, which encrypts the connection to the corresponding web page using a proxy server. Thus, this is a real search engine without restrictions: you can safely view what your provider blocks. Search proxies are the main feature of Startpage, which make it a search engine without censorship. If you need to search without blocking, this service is for you.

    DuckDuckGo is the most widely used secure alternative to Google with over ten million searches per day. Even though the search engine's servers are located in the US, DuckDuckGo.com still offers some interesting features.

    When searching through DuckDuckGo.com, your IP address will not be stored. The system also does not use cookies for tracking. DuckDuckGo uses HTTPS encryption. You can also enter a query into a search engine via the Tor network. You can also use different themes to customize the appearance of your search page.

    You cannot open websites through a proxy here. But taking into account the fact that the system is outside the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, it is not subject to, for example, the “right to be forgotten” in the sense in which it is understood in our country. The search results may not be perfect, but they are still quite useful. This service is more suitable for those who primarily value anonymity and search without tracking. Or for those who want to find information excluded from search results in the Russian Federation. However, we should warn you: in Russia, DuckDuckGo has become a partner of Yandex, so you can expect everything.

    notEvil: searching the Internet that doesn't exist The notEvil search engine allows you to search the Internet using the anonymous Tor network. To do this, you do not need to install any additional software (although you will need it in order to open search results).

    This search engine allows you to search on the so-called darknet - that part of the Internet that is usually inaccessible to the average user. Due to blocking, useful services are gradually moving into it, for example, for downloading content.

    Anonymous search engines as a safe alternative to Google

    All three search engines do not log your IP address or use cookies for tracking. Encryption using HTTPS is provided by all named providers. The DuckDuckGo search engine showed the best search results in the test, and you will receive guaranteed security when choosing an alternative search engine with the Startpage.com system. EU data protection certification confirms that the search engine stands by its promise of search anonymity. NotEvil, in turn, is useful for searching the darknet.

    For two decades now, working in the media, I have been observing the same phenomenon. Namely: some journalists are completely in no mood to master new technologies, and, it seems, are still nostalgic for typewriters.

    And others, on the contrary, are mastering new technologies at cosmic speed, ahead of the most notorious technologists. This text is for the second category.

    We are all accustomed to using the most popular search engine in the world - Google - to find the information we need. Billions of search queries are registered every day on Google sites, available in approximately 200 languages ​​- it is no coincidence that the main site Google.com is considered the most popular resource on the Internet. Yandex and Bing are also used quite often.

    However, we must admit: the Google search engine is designed for the mass consumer, for those for whom in 99% of cases the first three pages of search results are more than enough. But journalists are precisely those people who sometimes need to find something not too common, to delve deeply into an issue. However, even the most advanced search engine cannot search blogs as well as scientific articles, digital images and recipes. It is for this reason that there are many not very well-known search engines that specialize in some kind of “narrow” search, or are able to search where traditional search engines usually do not search. After all, universal search engines simply “do not see,” for example, web pages that no longer exist, or old versions of pages, content on social networks, pages that are deliberately closed to “web spiders,” etc.

    So what can we do?

    1. Answer the question

    You can search for something using keywords or phrases, or you can ask a question in natural human language. These are the questions that are answered Answers.com– a search engine that allows you to find answers to a huge number of questions. The search result is not a set of links, but articles from Wikipedia, Oxford University and other authoritative resources. You just have to ask in pure English.

    2. Find something that no longer exists

    Today, almost every advanced Internet user knows how to use Google or Yandex cache when he needs to view (and/or present as evidence) a recently deleted or changed page in its original form. Well, or see her as she was at a certain point in time. However, there is a certain problem: such a cache is available for search results only for a relatively short time. This is understandable: the task of a search robot is to provide the most current version of an Internet resource.

    However, sometimes you need to see a site the way it looked, say, a few years ago. For this purpose, special search tools have been created - such as, say, a web service Wayback Machine. His work is supported by the non-profit organization Internet Archive, which has been collecting copies of web pages and multimedia content posted on the Internet since 1997. All these copies, stored on multiple servers, are available free of charge to everyone. The Wayback Machine allows you to find not only the old version of a currently existing site, but also those web pages that have not existed for a long time - we are talking about closed sites. To date, the Internet Archive has already collected more than 366 billion pages, so it is very likely that you will find what you need.

    3. Looking for a picture

    Today, the vast majority of users who need to find a photo or other graphic file use Google Images for this purpose. But still, the largest-search-engine-in-the-world is “tailored” for text search, and image search for it is only one of the additional services.

    So, if you couldn't find what you need using Google Images, it makes sense to use something specialized. For example, service Picsearch. According to its creators, their brainchild has already indexed more than three and a half billion digital images.

    Among the advantages of Picsearch are both a multilingual user interface and a full multilingual search, as well as a number of very practical filters, for example, the ability to search only black and white or color images, pictures with a predominance of a particular color, search for “wallpaper” for the desktop backgrounds, as well as faces or animated images.

    A search engine can also be a worthy alternative to Google Images Everystockphoto. On the one hand, it is much smaller in size - it contains “only” about 25 million images stored on online photo sites, including Flickr, Fotolia and Wikimedia Commons. However, as experts say, the results of her work are truly impressive. Most of the images found can be used for free, however, provided that the name of the photographer or copyright holder is indicated.

    The service for searching by image content stands out. Picollator.ru. When you enter a query into most search engines that offer searches for image files, you get results based on what text appears on the page, as well as the names of the files. Picollator works fundamentally differently, identifying what is shown in the pictures. It is clear that in this case the search query should not be formulated as a word or phrase, but as a picture.

    That is, to search, you must upload a photo to the server or provide a link to the site where it has already been uploaded. The search results will contain thumbnails of images similar to the uploaded photo. True, this service only works with photographs of people, and of good quality.

    Unfortunately, too many journalists - especially those from the journalism department - are not friendly with numbers. Many people don't even see the difference between percentages and percentage points, which is why economics articles sometimes turn into gobbledygook. One of the most famous “alternative” search engines can help them - WolframAlpha .

    Essentially, it is an “encyclopedic” search engine whose task is to provide answers to truly complex questions in areas such as mathematics, physics, medicine, statistics, history, linguistics and other fields of science. Essentially, WolframAlpha is more of a colossal database, some of which has been converted into computational algorithms. It is thanks to them that a search engine user can obtain detailed information about how many grams of protein and calories are contained in a cup of cocoa, what the average life expectancy is in the United States, France and Australia next year, or how to solve an algebraic equation.

    However, to fully use WolframAlpha, you need to be fluent in English. Unfortunately, the system does not support other languages.

    5. Science again

    The scientific world has always been somewhat closed to the uninitiated. Of course, it is not fenced off from the general public by a steel wall, but in order to read scientific publications, delve into specific databases and look at the results of experiments, Internet users usually need to register and gain special access. That is, ordinary search engines do not index this information - for them, almost all scientific articles belong to the category of the so-called “Deep Web”.

    So if you really need to delve into scientific information that is incomprehensible to most of the uninitiated, use a specialized search engine. Such as a search engine CompletePlanet, with access to more than 70,000 scientific databases and highly targeted search engines.

    6. Looking for a man!

    A regular search engine can only be used to search for information about a celebrity. If you need information not about a public person at all, then the chances of finding any data drop sharply. And then you need to use a specialized search engine.

    The most famous of these systems is the search engine. Pipl. It searches people's data across a range of public registries, online databases, services and social networks. The big advantage of the Pipl service is that it also works with the Cyrillic alphabet, so it is quite effective with Russian-language surnames.

    Alternative - Russian service SpravkaRU.NET. He can find the address and home telephone number of a resident not only in Russia, but also in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Moldova. In essence, this is a large electronic telephone directory of major cities in post-Soviet countries, although it is far from complete. However, unlike many similar services, SpravkaRU.NET contains completely up-to-date databases. So if you have at least some information about relatives or the approximate place of residence of the object of your interest, then this will certainly help you find him. Please note that the service often does not work.

    The easiest way to find someone is to use a search engine "Yandex.People". It has been verified: you won’t get much information, but you will almost certainly find the person himself.

    7. Blog search

    Over the past decade and a half, blogs have become not just a social and cultural phenomenon, but also simply a bottomless source of a wide variety of information. Not always reliable and correctly presented, but often still very interesting. Specialized search for Russian-language blogs - service "Yandex.Blogs". No special bells and whistles, just a working search.

    8. Keep your search a secret

    One of the outstanding developments of the 2010s is an anonymous search engine. DuckDuckGo. It is an open source search engine founded in September 2008. In its user agreement, DDG emphasizes the confidentiality of user-provided data, non-recording and storage of user information and non-surveillance of users.

    Technologically, DuckDuckGo differs from universal search engines in that it does not use a “Filter bubble”, that is, it does not take into account the user’s past queries to determine what information is most interesting to him. DuckDuckGo by default uses the HTTPS protocol between client and server, using the RC4 encryption algorithm with a 128-bit key. Also, DDG Search Engine does not use cookies and does not store data about users’ IP addresses, does not prompt you to log in, and by default encrypts transmitted data.

    The anonymous search engine is the brainchild of programmer Gabriel Weinberg. He created DDG in 2008, deciding from the outset that it would not store user data because it contained too much personal information. “If you ask people about the importance of privacy in their searches, they will say that it is very important, but almost no one makes an effort to make their searches anonymous,” Weinberg wrote on his blog. – Google stores not only user search queries, but also the IP addresses from which they accessed. It is a myth that Google must store all this information. Almost all the money they make is based on what the user types into the search bar.”

    At first, DuckDuckGo was little known: back in early June 2013, it was processing only 1.7 million requests per day. But then a scandal happened: information about the PRISM program was made public in the United States - with its help, the US NSA gained access to the servers of companies, including the owners of the world's largest search engines - Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. Soon after, the number of daily searches on DuckDuckGo exceeded 3 million per day and continued to grow rapidly.

    This is a searchable database of the most popular dlls. The files are sorted alphabetically and there is a search function. The file you are looking for can be found even if you only know the approximate name of the library.

    13. Finding medical information

    Website Medpoisk.ru– a universal search engine that is designed to search exclusively on medical sites. Uses Google's search engine. This is a practical tool not only for doctors, but also for anyone who needs an answer to any question in the field of medicine. How to treat this or that disease, what are the contraindications for this or that medicine, which doctor to consult. The search engine also includes a labor exchange for medical workers.

    14. Space is our everything

    Astronomical search service Astronet.ru specializes in searching for information on sites whose topics are related to astronomy and space exploration. In total, the search engine database contains about five hundred sites on astronomical topics - observatory sites, amateur pages, libraries of scientific literature, and the like.

    In addition to the search function, the site has a lot of other useful services, including, for example, an English-Russian-English astronomical dictionary, a biographical reference book with detailed information about all scientists who contributed to the development of astronomy, and a glossary of astronomical terms. There's also a handy star map that generates the positions of constellations based on the latitude and longitude of the viewing point, as well as the time of day.

    Of course, this is only a small part of alternative search services. Moreover, over time, some of them stop working, but new ones appear. The best minds are creating ever more advanced algorithms for selecting Internet search results. However, if you learn to skillfully operate the syntax of a search query, then Google, Yandex, Yahoo! and other “general purpose” search engines can produce results as good as alternative search engines.

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