Cloudflare is rolling out Pay Per Crawl, a new feature that allows websites to charge for crawlers like search engines and AIs to index their content. At first glance, it sounds like a win for publishers—but for the overwhelming majority of websites, it’s a traffic trap disguised as a revenue stream.

Cloudflare powers about 20% of the web, so any new feature they introduce carries weight. But realistically, this one will only matter to the top 1,000 or so sites in the Majestic Million—those elite destinations with thousands of referring subnets. If you’re not in that top 0.1%, Pay Per Crawl probably won’t make you a dime. In fact, it could do real damage to your site’s visibility. [Read more…]

Yandex has released what it’s calling the largest publicly available dataset for training and evaluating recommender systems. The dataset, dubbed Yambda (Yandex Music Billion-Interactions Dataset), contains nearly 5 billion anonymized user interactions collected over ten months from its music streaming service, Yandex Music. [Read more…]

Online shopping should be easy, but lately, it feels more like a never-ending maze of ads, sponsored links, and paid influencer posts. A growing number of consumers say they don’t trust Google’s search results when looking for fashion brands. Many feel they’re being steered toward brands with the biggest marketing budgets rather than the best fit for their style, size, or budget. [Read more…]

For years, online search has been controlled by ads, algorithms, and companies looking to make a profit. The top search results aren’t always the best—they’re often just the ones that paid the most. And now, artificial intelligence is making things even messier, spitting out answers that sound convincing but aren’t always true. [Read more…]

In a surprising twist, Microsoft’s Bing search engine has rolled out a new tactic that mimics Google’s iconic homepage design. Users who search for “Google” on Bing are greeted with a page that looks strikingly similar to Google’s clean, white interface, complete with a colorful doodle. This unexpected move has stirred up a storm of reactions, with many questioning Microsoft’s intent behind this mimicry. [Read more…]

Alibaba International has something to celebrate as its AI-powered B2B search engine, Accio, hits the impressive milestone of 500,000 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) users. Launched just a couple of months ago in November 2024, Accio is swiftly becoming the go-to tool for SMEs looking to streamline their global sourcing efforts. [Read more…]

Updated December 4, 2024: Updated with searches from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Bing AI (Microsoft Copilot)

Is Santa Real? That’s a good question. The short answer is that it depends on who you ask. That’s what I found out when I asked three different search engines and 3 different AIs. I asked ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Claude AI. Then, I asked three different search engines whether or not Santa is real, I asked Google, Bing, and Duck Duck Go. [Read more…]

OpenAI has introduced an upgraded web search within ChatGPT, aiming to bring fast, accurate answers directly into your chat. Instead of bouncing between tabs and links, users now get web-based answers within the conversation. This feature will be available to all ChatGPT Plus and Team users starting today, and Free users can expect it in the coming months. [Read more…]

Spectral Capital Corporation has announced its acquisition of Quantomo, a leading innovator in quantum tomography. The move marks a significant step in reshaping the landscape of search engines as we know them, with promises to outpace tech giants like Google. [Read more…]

Alibaba International is set to transform the global sourcing landscape with the launch of its AI-powered conversational sourcing engine, debuting this September. This pioneering technology promises to streamline the sourcing process for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), making it more intuitive and efficient than ever before. [Read more…]

HIX.AI, a pioneer in artificial intelligence solutions, has announced a major pivot from its flagship AI writing product to a cutting-edge AI search engine. This bold move positions HIX.AI to compete directly with established AI search engines like Perplexity, leveraging its substantial existing website traffic of over 7 million monthly visitors, as reported by Similarweb. [Read more…]

Shoplazza, a leading enterprise in China’s cross-border E-commerce SaaS sector, has announced the launch of its self-developed engine aimed at transforming the landscape of online retail. With advanced technologies like big data and artificial intelligence at the forefront, Shoplazza is set to redefine how businesses establish and expand their global presence. [Read more…]

In a move that shakes up the digital encyclopedia landscape, octogenarian tech entrepreneur Joe Kerwin has unveiled www.Wikimedian.com, a revolutionary platform poised to challenge the status quo of knowledge sharing. This isn’t just another Wikipedia clone; it’s a comprehensive hub that integrates Wikipedia, Wikitravel, Wikiquote, Wikibooks, and Wikinews, providing users with a one-stop-shop for a diverse range of information. [Read more…]

In a groundbreaking move for OnlyFans enthusiasts, Fansearch, the trailblazing OnlyFans Search Engine, has officially made its debut, promising an enhanced and personalized journey for both content creators and their dedicated fans.

Fansearch isn’t merely a search engine; it’s a revolutionary platform, a digital playground redefining how enthusiasts connect with their beloved OnlyFans models. Far beyond a traditional directory, Fansearch aspires to be a dynamic space, finely tuned to cater to the distinctive desires of both creators and their avid audience. [Read more…]

In a dynamic business landscape where efficiency is paramount, SmarTek21 has introducted IntelliTek SearchAI, a cutting-edge document search solution enriched with generative AI technology. This innovative tool is poised to reshape operational efficiency across multiple industries, including Finance, Retail, Food Industry, Transport, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Healthcare, and Telecom. [Read more…]

A company named the Internet Corporation Listing Service (ICLS.net) continues to send out invoices in the USPS mail that are fake. The invoice they sent looks like the one I received above, which claims to be for $259 for a five year website search engine listing, from August 15, 2023 to August 15, 2028. the problem is that companies with websites (or even people such as myself) with domain names and websites should not pay for a search engine listing. Such a listing isn’t required that you pay, as the search engines such as Google and Bing actually will list your website for free. [Read more…]

Pulsr, the first-ever AI search engine for NFTs has launched. Pulsr is an AI search engine that contains over 5 million NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) across Ethereum, Polygon and Tezos, now openly available for discovery on its platform. Pulsr revolutionizes the NFT ecosystem by employing AI to automate, identify, and distribute NFT searchability Web3-Wide, effectively easing discoverability challenges for onchain collectors and NFT marketplaces. [Read more…]

Artlist, a creative technology company that is used by millions digital creators around the world, has launched their new AI-powered footage search engine. Artlist’s new advanced search engine is integrated into its product, helping creators to find the exact footage that they need more quickly than ever. [Read more…]

California Crane School, Inc. filed a class action antitrust case [3:21-cv-10001, C.C.S.I. v Google LLC] on 12/27/21 against Google and Apple and the Chief Executive Officers of both companies alleging violations of the Antitrust Laws of the United States. [Read more…]

There’s a new privacy-based search engine that just launched called GotConn. GotConn claims that it offers private search, no personalized search results, and makes use of no third party trackers. They also claim that it doesn’t track IP addresses and doesn’t keep user session logs–and doesn’t sell personal information. [Read more…]

SearchBlox, a company that provides enterprise search server tools, has launched SearchAI SmartSuggest, SearchAI Answers and SearchAI Personalization. SearchAI Answers uses natural language processing to provide a more intuitive search experience similar to Google’s Featured Snippets. Websites with a lot of data to search through can integrate SearchBlox’s tools into their internal site search to now provide better suggest, answers, and personalization. [Read more…]

Microsoft has rebranded its Bing search engine and given it a new name: Microsoft Bing. Most of us will most likely continue to refer Microsoft’s search engine as “Bing”, but Microsoft would like us to now refer to their search engine as Microsoft Bing rather than just “Bing”. Get it? I’m as confused as you are. [Read more…]

The search engine called WeLeakInfo.com has been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice. WeLeakInfo.com was a website that sold access to hacked personal information and account logins. [Read more…]

Did the search engines, Google and Bing, today predict the Southwest Airlines’ emergency landing of Flight 1380 at Philadelphia Airport (PHL)? Absolutely not–but based in the Google and Bing search results, it appears that that they may have actually predicted that news. [Read more…]

Do you remember the iWon.com website? It was a web portal that included a search engine, but you could “win” rewards and prizes for using their site, up to a certain number of times per day. The more you used the site the more you could win entries into the money that they were giving away each, and every day. A lot of people started using iWon Email years ago and still rely on iWon email to this day, but it’s going away starting on October 2, 2017.

I never really spent a whole lot of time on their site, but I remember having an iwon free account and at least entering something every so often. But I never really did win anything. Or maybe I did? I honestly don’t remember. As I recall, the IAC search (IAC owns iWon.com) was pretty much using another search engine’s results (I believe it’s was Google’s search results). [Read more…]

The search engine Ask.com leaked its server log files, displaying all of its users’ aearch queries to the public. For a few hours today, you searched for a keyword on Ask.com, the public could see what you searched for. [Read more…]