The early morning disruption in Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, had a significant impact on various services. Searches from Microsoft Edge browsers and services that rely on Bing’s search API, including Microsoft’s own Copilot, ChatGPT, Yahoo, Ecosia, and DuckDuckGo, were all affected. The issue with Bing started around 1:30 AM, as reported by Downdetector.com.
Although services were restored by the morning in Eastern time zones, the incident raises questions about the reliance on a few major search engines and the search for viable alternatives.
Google recently introduced AI Overviews as a standard feature in all searches, allowing users to opt out of traditional web results.
The recent introduction of AI Overviews by Google, a standard feature in all searches, has raised significant concerns. This move, while offering users the option to opt out of traditional web results, has sparked debates about AI’s accuracy and the broader implications of Google’s dominance in terms of privacy, tracking private details, and market control.
The search engine market is mainly dominated by Google, Bing, and Yandex, which maintain extensive global indexes.
Alternatives to these search engines, often rely on these indexes due to the high costs associated with creating and maintaining a comprehensive search index. Bing, for example, powers many alternative search engines like DuckDuckGo, despite of some privacy concerns.
Exploring beyond the significant search engines reveals a variety of smaller-scale options.
Rohan “Seirdy” Kumar has compiled a list of search engines with their indexes, highlighting Mojeek and Stract’s unique offerings.
Many alternative search engines, despite their potential, face significant challenges. They often start with the Common Crawl, a vast public database, but struggle with organizing and monetizing the data without the resources of companies like Google and Microsoft.
The quest for a true alternative to the major search engines may require more effort from users, including exploring various search engines, forums, and non-indexed resources.
So, while the major search engines provide convenience, those seeking alternatives may need to invest time in discovering and utilizing a range of smaller, specialized search tools.
Also Read: Bing Chat Gets a Visual Upgrade with Its Multimodal Capabilities