WhaleSlide And The Evolution Of Search Engines
Internet users are getting sick of their personal internet history being sold to the highest bidder. See what search engine alternatives are doing about it.
It’s no secret that modern search engines store information about their visitors. Individual user data is logged and monitored for potential advertising opportunities. How? Cookies, click-thoughs and other harvesting tactics. That’s why a random search will often cause related adverts to appear in social media platforms or on unconnected webpages.
Reaping What You Sow
Data harvesting is one reason why web browsers remain free to use, yet the consequences can feel intrusive. It’s strangely unsettling that a foreign company with little accountability can monitor everything we search for, before discreetly selling this information onto whoever they like. It’s also very difficult to track who these third-party companies are, how they exploit our information after buying it or how long they can retain it.
Of course, it is possible to browse the web without leaving electronic footprints behind. The Tor browser encrypts data and distributes it through numerous nodes to make data tracking very difficult. However, Tor’s integrated Startpage search engine runs slowly compared to Chrome or Safari, due to the complex way data packets are distributed. Tor also has unsavory associations with the murky Deep Web, which can deter potential users.
Search Engine Alternative
Concerns are growing about intrusive advertising. Platforms like WhaleSlide represent an increasingly viable alternative. This British search engine doesn’t store data from individual visits. So information can’t be sold on to advertisers or obtained by third parties. Hackers need to look elsewhere, while the absence of user preferences means results aren’t filtered. This prevents the ‘filter bubble’ effect where curated results distort future searches by pandering to known preferences. It can be disappointing because we expect search engines to deliver accurate and impartial listings.
With no dynamic backgrounds or interactive logos, WhaleSlide’s user experience is starkly monochrome. Each plain text entry is fully hyperlinked, presented in a single-column list that loads new results as the page scrolls down. Top results are broadly similar to the leading search engines, but relevance declines more rapidly further down the rankings. It is possible to customize accounts and pin favorite websites to the homepage. Although, the sites suggested in WhaleSlide’s literature include WhatsApp and Wikipedia rather than Facebook or Instagram.
Growing Appreciation of Privacy
WhaleSlide plans on releasing apps for Android and iOS this year. WhaleSlide aims to capitalize on our growing appreciation of the value attached to data acquired from search engines – and our own social media accounts. Teenagers are already adopting encrypted communication platforms like WhatsApp or time-limited social media channels such as Snapchat. And where they lead, older generations inevitably follow. The procession of high-profile leaks from tech brands like Yahoo has damaged public confidence in online data security, while the rise in targeted advertising shows how closely our search engine activity is being monitored.
While 99% of UK audiences still use one of the big three search engines, an increasing number of people are turning to platforms that don’t log IP addresses or sell our search histories. DuckDuckGo is the market leader in tracking-free results, funded by non-targeted advertising and incorporating a variety of filters. SearX is an open source engine that can be self-hosted for complete self-accountability, while Startpage’s proxy server option means it works more effectively outside the Tor browser. The popularity of these platforms will surely increase, as we become increasingly aware of how our search histories are being used and resold.