Top 10 Search Engines in 2022

Table of Contents

• Understanding Search Engines
• Importance of Search Engines in Digital Marketing
• Top 10 Search Engines in the World
• Key Takeaways 
• Conclusion 
• FAQs

We are swimming in an ocean of unfiltered and unorganized information. From newspaper headlines to social media updates, there’s too much for you to keep track of, from newspaper headlines to social media updates. Search engines simplify this task by indexing, categorizing, and dispensing your required information. It would be next to impossible to find relevant answers without search engines. Even to simple queries like ‘How to make a lemonade?’.

Since search engines are so important, you must know the top 10 search engines globally. Although you might know the popular ones like Google and Yahoo, many others have several unique features. We’ll discuss them all in this article.

Understanding Search Engines

Consider a search engine as a directory of all the web pages ever published on the web. A search engine helps you scourge through these zillions of web pages to find those that successfully answer your query. 

A search engine works on keywords. Anything you put in the search box is a keyword. The search engine uses it to understand the intent of your query. Based on this, it retrieves the most relevant web pages that contain the answer and ranks them on SERP (search engine result page).

As a marketer, if you want your page to organically show up in the SERP, it is important that your content features the right SEO keywords.

How does a search engine work?

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A search engine performs three major tasks for you:

• Crawling: Search engines have bots or crawlers that scan the internet for relevant web pages. It’s done with the intention of finding updated information for its users.
• Indexing: Next, the search engine categorizes different web pages based on search queries or ‘keywords’. This helps it retrieve the most relevant information for its users.
• Ranking: Finally, the search engine ranks all indexed web pages based on several factors. It could be content quality, page authority, user-friendliness, etc. It puts the best ranking pages on top of the SERP for every query. All popular search engines have their own set of ranking factors. 

Importance of Search Engines in Digital Marketing

Before we list the top 10 search engines in the world, let’s understand why search engines are even important for marketers. Here’s why:

1. They increase the reach of business

As we mentioned earlier, there are many web pages online. So, it’s not easy for customers to find a business. Search engines make it easier by categorizing a web page based on specific keywords related to your services or industry. Thus, they expand the reach of any business.

2. They filter information

Search engines make it very easy to find information by shouldering the humongous task of filtering all information. Without a search engine, it would take days to find answers to simple queries.

3. They have advanced algorithms

These algorithms help search engines find the most accurate and relevant answer to any query. It also helps businesses reach their audience by using organically valuable content and good SEO.

4. They offer helpful features

Search engines have many features that enhance the entire search experience. For example, rich snippets, multimedia results, shop sections, and more help individuals and businesses alike. Popular search engines have unique features that make them stand out.

Top 10 Search Engines in the World

Here’s a list of the best search engines around the globe and everything you need to know about them:

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1. Google Search

Developed in 1997, Google is the most popular search engine globally. Packed with powerful algorithms and an excellent user interface, it has ruled the search market for over two decades. More than 3.5 billion searches happen on Google daily, which gives it a 92% share of the entire search market.

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What makes google stand apart are its comprehensive ranking algorithms and customized search. Apart from regular search results, it also has interactive features. It includes weather forecasts, flight booking, unit conversions, package tracking, etc. Google pays special emphasis on the convenience of its users. That’s why it has introduced options like voice search and Google Lens recently. All this makes it one of the best search engines ever to exist.

2. Bing

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Owned by Microsoft, Bing is the second most popular search engine globally. It offers a multimedia search experience like Google. So, you can search images, text, maps, videos, and more. Some characteristics that make Bing unique are its index-serving system called ‘Tiger’ and its social search feature ‘Sidebar.’

‘Tiger’ was incorporated in Bing for users to search for faster and more relevant information. ‘Sidebar,’ on the other hand, enables users to find results in their social networks as well on the side of Bing SERP. Bing is the third-largest search engine with a search volume of 4%.

3. Yahoo

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Yahoo holds a 2% percent share in the global search market currently. But it is more prevalent in the USA, where it maintains a whopping 24% of the market share. Yahoo is currently powered by Bing and provides results in text, image, video, maps, audio, news, shopping, and other verticals.

Yahoo offers support in 56 global languages in more than 38 international markets. Its unique features include ‘SearchScan’, which automatically detects viruses on web links and alerts users in advance.

4. Baidu

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Baidu is owned by a Chinese MNC and currently offers various services in the country. It is the second-largest search engine and holds a 4% market share. In the Chinese market, it has a 76% market share. The search engine is available worldwide but only in the Chinese language. Its features include ProTheme, P4P ads, multimedia results, and more. It is known for its speed and reliability.

5. DuckDuckGo

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It is among the list of most popular search engines around the world. It is gaining fame because of its emphasis on user privacy. At a time when data has become extremely important for organizations, search engines are doing little to protect this data. But DuckDuckGo is one of the few search engines that do not track user data in order to personalize or filter results. It has a unique API that retrieves relevant pages from websites to offer quick results. Another advantage is that DuckDuckGo is not loaded with ads, unlike other search engines like Google.

6. Yandex

It is a search engine popular in Russia. The name is an abbreviation for ‘Yet ANother iNDEXer.’ Its share ranges from 0.5-1.5 of the searches in the global market. It is owned by a technology company of the same name. The search engine has more than 65% of the search market share in the Russian market. 

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7. Ask

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Ask is one of the oldest search engines in the world, formerly known as ‘Ask Jeeves.’ The idea behind Ask was to create a Q&A directory for all possible questions in the world. It relies a lot on user-generated answers. The company gave up on the search market in 2010, after which Google has powered the search engine.

8. Ecosia

It’s worth mentioning Ecosia in the list of top search engines. It follows a not-for-profit business model and donates 80% of its profits to organizations working against deforestation. Ecosia is based in Germany and was created with the objective of fostering sustainable search.

9. Naver

Also known as the ‘Google of South Korea’, the search engine holds 3/4th of the search share in the Korean market. Just like Google, Naver also provides several services like email, news portal, encyclopedia, etc. But its usage in the international market is very limited.

10. AOL

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It is another popular name in the list of top search engines around the world. It holds about 0.06% of the total global search market share. AOL stands for ‘America Online.’ The search engine was started in New York as one of the world’s earliest internet dial-up services.

Key Takeaways

• A search engine helps you index, categorize, and rank web pages all over the internet. Thus, it makes information more accessible for its users.
• Search engines are important because they expand the reach of businesses, filter information, have advanced algorithms, and offer helpful features.
• Google is at the top of the list of popular search engines, with over 92% of the market share. Microsoft Bing follows it at 2nd place and Baidu at 3rd.
• Other search engines include Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Ask, Ecosia, Naver, and AOL. Some of them are specific to certain countries like Germany, Russia, South Korea, and China.
• All the top search engines have their own set of features and cater to a niche set of users. The complexity of their algorithms varies, as well as the indexing engines used by them. 

Conclusion

With this, we conclude the list of the top 10 search engines in the world. Search engines are at the very core of digital marketing in today’s age. Businesses invest significantly to get exposure in major search engines like Google and Bing. These search engines constantly update their algorithms to get the most accurate results for their users. That’s why they work well for users and businesses that care about their users. We might see some more names added to the list in the future. But for the time being, these 10 popular search engines rule the market.

FAQs