Google has become a solid part of our everyday vocabulary. Whilst the multinational tech giant takes the crown year after year for being the world’s biggest and best search engine, “Googling it” certainly isn’t your only option.
There are in fact many search engines that can be used to access the very best of the net. Here are the top 10 most popular on the planet right now…
It should come as no surprise that Google remains top dog in the world of search. Despite having many fingers in many pies – the company now covers everything from artificial intelligence, online advertising and cloud computing to computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce and consumer electronics – it’s still the world’s widest use search engine taking an impressive 92.01% of the market share at last count.
Despite its measly 2.96% market share, Bing remains in second place, with many of its features (including its image filters, differing layouts and video search capabilities) often preferred by internet users and garnering them over 1 billion visits every month.
Taking the number three spot is an oldie but goodie. Yahoo may be one of the world’s oldest search engines – it launched in 1995 – but it’s still used by 1.51% of the population. Its specialism in categorising and suggesting trending items actually puts some of its capabilities ahead of Google.
With many other search engines banned in China, Baidu’s dominance in the Asian markets puts it in an enviable fourth place position.
It may have a 1.17% share worldwide but its concentration of Chinese users (86% of the population use Baidu) makes it a powerful online marketing solution for businesses based in China or targeting the Chinese market.
From China’s most popular search engine to Russia’s, Yandex is predominantly used in Russia and surrounding Eastern European areas, coverage that gives the search engine a healthy 1.06% share.
Launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo may be one of the newest search engines in our rundown, but it’s also the fastest growing. Its aim to protect searchers’ privacy resonates with today’s internet browsers, a fact that has seen the engine’s average daily search volume go from strength to strength.
Once a major player, Ask.com – formerly known as Ask Jeeves – is still very much alive and well. It’s now the seventh largest search engine in the world.
Despite its lowly ranking, Naver’s success in South Korea is preventing Google from achieving world domination, and that has to be applauded. Billed as a ‘comprehensive search service’, and sporting a highly categorised yet simple interface, there’s a reason why it’s so popular.
Another engine many people thought had fallen into the search abyss is AOL. With a history going back to 1983, the US online service provider still supplies a steadfast search portal to 0.06% of the world’s market.
Google may be the preferred search engine for 84% of Czech Republic’s population but the remainder use Seznam. The country’s first search engine still attracts millions of users every month.