How a Private Search Engine Can Help Your Day to Day Life
Don't be evil. It's a simple enough phrase. But the fact that Google used it as a business motto really impressed people. We strive to avoid doing evil. Our neighbors friends and family did the same. But seeing a company stand by that ideal made people stop and pay attention. But what people didn't notice is the fact that the phrase silently dropped from use.
A company dropping a motto like that becomes rather conspicuous. And it's one of the reasons many people have decided to look elsewhere for their search engine needs. It can prove a little difficult at first. But as one looks into the subject one thing becomes increasingly apparent. Using a private search engine brings a whole host of benefits.
Getting away from a monoculture
This benefit is a bit speculative. But one person's speculation is another's foresight. People often speak cautiously of monocultures. As options fade performance and vitality seem to degrade. It's usually true in a cultural sense. It's most certainly true when it comes to biological and genetic diversity. And it's true in the world of software as well.
One simply needs to look back at the times in which Microsoft had a monopoly on the Web to see that effect in action. Internet Explorer virtually killed any progress on web standards for years. Microsoft controlled the Web and wasn't interested in fostering anything which might change that fact. It wasn't until Google made their own browser that things finally changed. But now Google themselves are closing in on a monopoly on the web.
Using a private search engine helps to fight against Google's monoculture. It's just one service among many. But fighting potential monopolies doesn't mean one needs to leave behind everything the company provides. One changes what he can and hopes that other people's changes overlap in a beneficial way.
No paper trail
The idea of a paper trail might seem odd in the digital age. And to be sure, the term isn't meant in a literal sense. But whether real or a metaphor, paper trails are very serious things.
And Google has a significant paper trail. One has to go through some menus to find it. But anyone with a google account can find long term records of every search they've ever performed. And there's really no way to opt out of having your history saved.
It's simply part of how Google operates. They refine their search results by keeping records. Third parties are then hired to evaluate search results. That means that someone may well be following in the footsteps of any search you've performed. Saying that's a bit creepy when you consider checking up on friends and family over the years would be an understatement for most people.
But private search engines are different. There's enough variety out there that one can usually find a search engine that fits their privacy needs. And that means avoiding the whole concept of a paper trail. Many private search engines don't keep any user records at all. In fact, they're aware that it's one of their primary selling points.
You're not a commodity
Google started out as a company focused on their search engine. But at the moment they're really an advertising platform. The vast majority of their services exit in large part as a platform for advertising. This is sometimes out in the open. For example, when you use YouTube there's obvious advertising. And even a search will have sponsored links and advertisements. But they also act under the radar fairly often.
For example, when you perform a search you're identifiable either with an IP address or a Google account. Either method can be used to anchor your usage patterns. Google can tie your search in to you as a person and investigate fairly far down into your life. And they can then sell the results to advertisers.
One can avoid all of that by using private search engines. Again, it's important to note that private search engines each have different priorities. But it's fairly easy to narrow down your options.
Further integration with your own projects
One of the more recent complaints about Google is that they tend to hook people into using their API and then charging for it. It's enough of a recurring pattern at this point that people are often leary of using Google APIs in their projects.
But private search engines have good reason to want people to use their services. They want to get their names out there. And this means that many of them prove methods to easily integrate one's own projects with their services. And it's not just direct searches either. For example, one might be able to tie into instant answer services to provide a full knowledge base with only a small amount of coding.
It's all about competition
In the end the biggest benefit of using a private search engine comes from competition. The simple fact that they need to work for your continued usage means that they're trying harder. And that effort will almost always pay off with real world benefits.
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