Confirming what you know and finding what you don't
For any searches more complicated than a simple look-up, it’s important for researchers and investigators to go beyond Google and try some alternatives. In spite of its size, Google has its limits, for several reasons: Google can be too big – For deep research, sometimes we need something more specialized than what you get with […]
Looking back at some blog statistics, it seems that readers can’t get enough of Google alternatives. Google is great, and – I must admit – it’s my usual starting point. But Google has its limitations, and sometimes we need more. Maybe it’s more privacy. Perhaps you need something more specialized. Or maybe you’re frustrated with […]
Judging from blog statistics, readers can’t seem to get enough of Google alternatives – especially privacy-based search engines. Clearly, many of you are tired of Google’s practices, including collecting and sharing your data and customizing search results. It’s not just privacy issue. As an investigator, I need to avoid filtered results, since I don’t want […]
Recently, I heard a T.V. news commentator say, “Everything you ever need to know is on Google.” If that’s where he gets most of his information, it’s easy to see why the industry is in so much trouble, but I’ll leave that discussion for another day. For now, judging from reader response, it’s clear that […]
Google alternatives still reign as the most popular posts on this blog, so I’ve decided to share some more with you. And since Google eliminates features almost weekly, it’s a good idea to try some specialized search engines to handle what Google can’t. Yippy – Clustering results into topics helps with narrowing your focus and […]
According to the stats, by far the most popular post on this site is My Favorite Google Alternatives. It seems that we love Google, but we’re still looking for a better search engine. While it’s size and broad scope make Google great, there are times when we need something smaller and focused. In light of […]
In recent posts about search engines I’ve covered Google and Bing, but sometimes plain vanilla isn’t enough – especially when you need advanced tools or focused content. It’s times like these when I turn to alternative, or specialized, search engines. Here are some of my favorite Google alternatives and how I use them: DuckDuckGo – […]
Since I’ve been tied up with work and vacation planning, here’s one I posted on the old blog in October 2014. I still get so annoyed with this Google-Is-To-Blame mentality: An article on Salon.com, Google makes us all dumber: The neuroscience of search engines, really caught my interest. In my research and investigations, Google is […]
In the business of background investigations, the goal is to find as much information as humanly possible on your subject, while respecting the client’s time frame and budget. That’s why I use professional online tools that help me quickly target what I need within a vast array of sources. I also use Google, and I […]
Us vs. Google. It’s a common theme among info pros, and – frankly – I wish it would go away. Google is one of my favorite tools of the trade, and I can’t imagine not consulting this and other general-purpose search engines before and after heading to more specialized sources. You’ll find lots of sites […]