{"id":241685,"date":"2026-05-21T19:19:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/six-search-engines-worth-trying-now-that-google-isnt-really-google-anymore-techcrunch\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T19:19:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:19:05","slug":"six-search-engines-worth-trying-now-that-google-isnt-really-google-anymore-techcrunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/six-search-engines-worth-trying-now-that-google-isnt-really-google-anymore-techcrunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Six search engines worth trying now that Google isn\u2019t really Google anymore | TechCrunch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google is about to look really different, and if you\u2019re not a fan of the <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/05\/26\/what-are-googles-ai-overviews-good-for\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI Overviews<\/a> feature, then you\u2019re not going to like what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/tag\/google-io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google I\/O 2026<\/a> keynote this week, the company announced that it is overhauling Search to embrace a conversational, AI-driven approach, even inviting users to enlist AI agents to automatically notify them if, for example, their favorite band were to go on tour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is the biggest upgrade to our iconic search box since its debut over 25 years ago,\u201d said Elizabeth Reid, leader of the Search organization at Google.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What\u2019s New in Search\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p6EBMG8OEBI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, when you search on Google, you\u2019re given the option from the start to use AI mode. Even if you opt not to use AI mode, you might get a search result with an AI Overview, which will now include a chat box for you to ask follow-up questions. Once you open the chat box, Google begins to look more like ChatGPT than the search engine that\u2019s ingrained itself into our lives for decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This announcement didn\u2019t elicit the reaction that Google would\u2019ve hoped for. Instead, many users see this as yet another example of a tech company squeezing AI agents and chatbots into everything it can, making it impossible to navigate the internet without encountering a chatbot. Especially after the rocky rollout of Google\u2019s AI Overviews \u2014 remember when Google told people to stare into the sun? \u2014 users are not eager for another adjustment.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Google<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Google\u2019s video announcing the Search updates, one commenter wrote, \u201cthis is the best advertisement for letting people know it\u2019s time to get a different search engine.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They make a good point. The new Google Search, which Reid describes as \u201cAI search through and through,\u201d is sure to alienate users. Generative AI aside, some users have also grown weary of Google for its sheer dominance \u2014 a U.S. District Court ruled in 2024 that Google had acted illegally to maintain a <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2024\/08\/05\/google-loses-massive-antitrust-case-over-search\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">monopoly<\/a> in online search.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re curious about alternative search engines, you\u2019re in the right place. Here are some places to start (or, embrace chaos and see where <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/openwebengine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Open Web Engine<\/a> takes you).<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-kagi\">Kagi<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before we were annoyed by Google\u2019s AI Overview, we were annoyed by ads. Ads are non-negotiable for Google \u2014 that\u2019s how Google Search makes money. But if a search engine were to operate without ads, could it still make money?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s what <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/kagi.com\" target=\"_blank\">Kagi<\/a> is trying to accomplish. For $5 per month \u2014 or $10 for unlimited searches \u2014 you can access an ad-free search engine without AI overviews. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kagi isn\u2019t just ad-free Google. The search engine also lets users customize their search experience by letting them filter certain websites and refine search results with \u201clenses.\u201d If you\u2019re in school, for example, you can use Kagi\u2019s academic lens to find journal articles about a topic, rather than blog posts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you find Google\u2019s AI Overviews useful from time to time, then you can use Kagi\u2019s AI-powered \u201cQuick Answer\u201d feature to summarize an answer to your search and include links to its sources. But if you don\u2019t want these AI summaries, guess what? You don\u2019t have to generate them.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-duckduckgo\">DuckDuckGo<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe you don\u2019t want to pay to search stuff online. That\u2019s understandable. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/duckduckgo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">DuckDuckGo<\/a> offers a free search engine that makes money by selling ads, but unlike Google, it doesn\u2019t collect user data in the form of search, browsing, and purchase history. Instead DuckDuckGo chooses what ads to serve based on the topic of your search \u2014 so if you search for concert tickets, you might see an ad for SeatGeek.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like many alternative search engines, DuckDuckGo has an interface that\u2019s reminiscent of Google \u2014 and like Google, it can display an AI-generated answer to a question in your search results. But if that bothers you, DuckDuckGo allows you to completely <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/duckduckgo.com\/duckduckgo-help-pages\/ai-features\/opting-out-of-ai\" target=\"_blank\">opt out of AI features<\/a> in the settings menu.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-startpage\">Startpage<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While DuckDuckGo has its own separate search index from Google, Startpage is a proxy for Google.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This means that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.startpage.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Startpage<\/a> acts as a middleman between you and the tech giant. When you search for something on Startpage, the company strips personal data like your IP address from your query, sends it to Google via the cloud, and returns the information to you. So, it\u2019s Google without Google knowing who you are. The downside is, well, it\u2019s still Google. At least Startpage lets you turn off AI features.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-amp-udm-14\">&amp;udm=14<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What if you took Startpage and made it simpler? The search engine <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/udm14.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">&amp;udm=14<\/a> is named for the string of characters it appends to all of your searches on Google. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you add &amp;udm=14 to your Google searches, you\u2019ll get the same Google results, only without an AI overview. But doing that yourself after every search is pretty annoying. That\u2019s why &amp;udm=14 does it for you automatically.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The developer even put the code on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/readtedium\/udm14\" target=\"_blank\">GitHub<\/a> so you can run your own version of &amp;udm=14 if that\u2019s your thing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re concerned about privacy, then you\u2019d probably opt for Startpage over &amp;udm=14, but both will basically get you AI-free Google.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-brave\">Brave<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/brave.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Brave<\/a> offers both a browser and a search engine. Since the browser is built atop Chromium, which is the same open-source base as Google Chrome, you can use Chrome extensions within the Brave browser. So, if you don\u2019t want to use Google Chrome, but you can\u2019t function without your LastPass plug-in, Brave could be for you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In terms of search, Brave allows users to apply certain third-party \u201cGoggles\u201d (not Googles!) to their searches, which curate the results. These include \u201cNews from the Right,\u201d \u201cNews from the Left,\u201d \u201cTech Blogs,\u201d and some other more niche options, like \u201cHacker News\/1k short,\u201d which prioritizes common domains referenced on Y-Combinator\u2019s Hacker News forum, but without the 1,000 most popular domains, so it omits more mainstream sites. Then, there\u2019s \u201cNo Pinterest,\u201d which is pretty self-explanatory (and funny). <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And yes, Brave does let you toggle AI features on and off. There\u2019s no reason you can\u2019t do this, Google.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ecosia\">Ecosia<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like Brave, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecosia.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ecosia<\/a> also offers both a browser and a search engine, and it\u2019s also built atop Chromium, meaning that your Chrome plug-ins should work on Ecosia too. As its name suggests, Ecosia\u2019s main draw is that it\u2019s supposed to be more eco-friendly than other search platforms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ecosia makes money from ads, but it donates about 80% of its income to tree-planting initiatives around the world. Tree-planting can sometimes be a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/down-to-earth\/22679378\/tree-planting-forest-restoration-climate-solutions\" target=\"_blank\">red flag for greenwashing<\/a>, but Ecosia works with communities involved in local reforestation efforts, publishes monthly <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.ecosia.org\/ecosia-financial-reports-tree-planting-receipts\/\" target=\"_blank\">financial reports<\/a> for transparency, and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.ecosia.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">blogs<\/a> about the actual impact of its efforts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>When you purchase through links in our articles, <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/techcrunch-affiliate-monetization-standards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/05\/21\/six-search-engines-worth-trying-now-that-google-isnt-really-google-anymore\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google is about to look really different, and if you\u2019re not a fan of the AI Overviews feature, then you\u2019re not going to like what\u2019s coming. At the Google I\/O 2026 keynote this week, the company announced that it is overhauling Search to embrace a conversational, AI-driven approach, even inviting users to enlist AI agents [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":241686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-241685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}