RWW Editor’s Note: This is the latest installment of The Top 100, a popular monthly feature from our AltSearchEngines blog. The list includes the best People search engines, Job, Health, Media, Local, Social, Semantic, Image, and many more ‘verticals’. ASE editor Charles Knight explains below how he compiles the monthly list. He also selected a ‘Search Engine of the Month’. So check out the list and write-up below to get a sense of the hottest new products in search. [end of Ed note]
The Top 10 FAQ about the Top 100 List:
1. Why 100? Note: The entire list is available at the end of this post.
The silly reason is because it is next in line after the 1 Search Engine of the Year (SEY), which is selected from amongst the 10 total Search Engines of the Month (see Dec 2007), but less than the 1,000 that we launched with last June.
The serious reason is that it takes a good 100 in order to show you the diversity of search engines out there – just look at the descriptions of the attached file(s). The best People search engines, Job, Health, Media, Local, Social, Semantic, Image, etc., etc. The alternative search engines are nothing if not diverse. But still, at 10 minutes each, it would take you more than 16 hours to check them all out! (I only know of one person who regularly does that – do you?)
2. How are the Top 100 selected?
For the AltSearchEngines list, this is how: I start with the Top 100 from February and add every search engine that was displayed on AltSearchEngines during the month. In February, there were 49 new search engines shown, so I start with 149. Can you imagine knocking down 149 good choices to 100? It’s not easy! But to answer the question, I delete search engines until I am down to 100 again, and that’s how the best search engines get integrated into the March list.
3. What about the Search Engine of the Month (SEM)?
Same principle – I look back on February’s news stories to see which search engine had the most significant development – in my humble opinion. Last month’s SEM was ChaCha.
4. What if I don’t like your choices?
First, leave a comment – as an individual. Second, be prepared. We will soon be launching our newest feature, a Top 100 list where you the reader will get to vote for your favorite engines. Then we’ll compare my choices to yours (as a group).
5. How do I find old versions of the List?
Most are under the Top 100 tab at the top of this page (June 2007 – February 2008), and the very old ones are in the ReadWriteWeb archives (Jan-May 2007), but of course older lists tend to be very outdated.
6. What if I want you to look at another alternative search engine this month?
Email it to me at at: [email protected], or leave a comment if you want others to see it.
7. What if I have a question about the Top 100 not mentioned here?
Join the AltSearchEngines Forum and, once inside, click on the “Ask Charles” tab.
8. Who is not on the Top 100 list? (or, Why don’t I see my favorite search engine?)
Good question! My guesstimate is that 1,300 search engines are not shown. We have no list of those for you, so we plan to start a Master database where together we can create a directory of all alternative search engines.
9. I don’t want to talk to you. How can I talk to other readers?
Great! Join the AltSearchEngines Forum and interact with the other ASE readers.
10. Who is the Search Engine of the Month for March?
It’s
In February, EveryZing launched two very exciting uses for their technology. Not just new tweaks or basic features, but major new applications / products: ezSearch and ezSEO. Rather than just write the information all over again, please go to the posts that that covered it all here for ezSEO and here for ezSearch.
Get the entire Top 100 list here as .xls The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines, March 2008
and here as .pdf The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines, March 2008
