Better data privacy policies
A different search experience
For any business looking to increase their organic visibility, this migration of users from Google to alternatives presents an opportunity to diversify their traffic sources and gain access to niche audiences while facing less competition.
Read on and you’ll learn why these alternatives are growing, how they can support your marketing goals, and which ones are worth investing in.
The Rise of Alternative Search Engines
Google may still be synonymous with search, but it's just one of many options.
While region-specific search engines like Baidu (China) austria phone number resource Naver (South Korea), and Yandex (Russia) have emerged as strong competitors in their local markets, social media platforms like TikTok have already been dubbed the new search engine for Generation Z.
This cultural shift towards niche online platforms is reflected across the digital landscape, including search engines. Consumers are opting for a Google alternative where they can find content that is more relevant to their interests and where they don’t have to worry about their data being misused.
These are the main factors that increase the demand for alternative search engines besides Google:
Data privacy and security. Users don’t like being tracked. So they want more control over how their data is used. What do they want, at the very least? Transparency. But given that the big players are shady on this issue, they’re deciding to go elsewhere.
The quality of search results has declined. The rise of “algorithm-powered” ads and AI- generated content has made it even harder to find useful content on Google. The top results are full of keyword-stuffed content, and Google heavily promotes its own products. This has frustrated many users who are now looking for a neutral search engine that offers a better experience.
Ethical considerations. Planet-first users are choosing to use products that align with their values. That’s why they’re abandoning Google for ethical alternatives that donate funds to climate action, have zero-tracking policies, and aren’t “tainted by tax avoidance.”
Niche and industry-specific results. Social media sub-communities and professionals in specialized professions flock to search engines that catalog information primarily related to their areas of interest. Consensus, which uses AI to produce evidence-based results from research articles, is a good example.
Search Engine Market (2023)
Google remains the dominant search engine in much of the world, with a market share that hasn’t fallen below 80% since 2015. In contrast, its closest rival, Bing, has seen its market share decline over the same time period, with a slight increase after the launch of Bing Chat . Others, such as Yahoo, Baidu, Yandex, and Duck Duck Go, have had the smallest pieces of the pie.
Search Engine Market Share
Source Statcounter
This situation has not changed much in the last five to 10 years. However, it is worth noting that while these alternative search engines have not yet seen a major increase in market share, they do have their own competitive advantages.
For example, the increasing number of users who want to protect their privacy online has led to the emergence of privacy-focused search engines. DuckDuckGo, Brave, and Neeva, to name a few, have made privacy central to their value proposition, and users are buying it.
Search Engine market share - China
Source Statcounter
On the other hand, Baidu and Yandex are the leading search engines in China and Russia, respectively. Yandex has accounted for over 63% of user visits as of Q2 2023, almost double the visits to Google. Similarly, in China , Baidu's market share is around 60% as of August 2023, while Bing is second with 14.9%, and Google has the smallest share (3.3%).
This information suggests that Google’s dominance can be relative. If you’re targeting users in a specific location or who have specific preferences around privacy and environmental sustainability, you’ll need to discover where they’re looking for information online and diversify your SEO strategy to reach them on those platforms.
How Do You Rank in Alternative Search Engines?
When it comes to ranking on alternative search engines besides Google, it is important to pay attention to the similarities and differences in the features of search engine results pages (<https://beomniscient.com/blog/serp-features/>) , indexing methods and ranking factors.
search results for Social media management tools
For example, based on an examination of the top five search results for “social media management tools,” it’s clear that domain authority, content quality, and relevance to search intent are similar ranking factors across DuckDuckGo, Brave, and Ecosia.
However, you will also notice that the results are generally ranked differently and these differences are more nuanced:
DuckDuckGo values quality content more than your backlink profile
Bing focuses on social engagement and local businesses listed on Bing Places
Baidu prioritizes sites with content written in Chinese, penalizes duplicate content, and gives more weight to backlinks from China-based websites
The weight given to each ranking factor varies depending on the specific algorithm of the search engine being used. With that in mind, here are some best practices for ranking on alternative search engines.
Research the ranking factors of each search engine
This is the most important step in optimizing your website for alternative search engines because it helps you understand the specific algorithm of each engine.
Check out the search engine’s official documentation and all available information about its priorities. For example, DuckDuckGo requires you to add your website to Apple Maps to rank in local search results, while Brave Search offers its users a tool called Goggles, which gives them a set of filters they can apply to personally re-rank pages for the top positions.
Consistent research and keeping up with algorithm updates will be crucial to maintaining a strong presence in any alternative engine you choose.
Submit your website to the search engine's webmaster tool
Doing this is of great importance as it directly informs the search engine of your website’s existence and makes it easier for your website to be indexed.
For alternatives like Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and Ecosia, which pull results from the same search index, you can submit your sitemap to the Bing webmaster tool. However, Yandex and Baidu have standalone webmaster tools, and Brave requires you to enable the Web Discovery Project (WDP) in the Brave browser to automatically index your site.
Each engine has its own shipping guidelines and requirements, so be sure to follow them.
Improve web structure for better user experience
A well-structured website helps users navigate your site and keeps it organized. Here are a few ways to improve your site’s performance :
Include relevant and contextual links that connect related content on your site
Use content delivery networks (CDNs) to optimize page load times
Make sure your site is responsive to a variety of screen sizes, as many search engines prioritize mobile traffic
Check and fix any broken links
Apply schema markup to provide rich snippets (for example, “people also ask” and featured snippets) in search results
Continue to publish high quality and reliable content
Alternative search engines are more likely to rank websites with high-quality content, even if those websites don’t have a large backlink profile, so focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to both the keywords and the search queries you want to rank for, as most experts would advise .
Also, consider the different types of content that the search engine ranks and make sure to analyze and optimize your content accordingly .
Add your location data to the search engine index
Similar to Google My Business, Bing has a directory of business listings known as Bing Places that helps you maximize your visibility in local search results.
Also, add location data to your website and make sure to use location-specific keywords . If you are looking to rank on a region-specific search engine like Baidu, getting backlinks from local websites can help you improve your position in search results.
