The Ultimate Tech Search Engine

Martin Brinkmann
Mar 14, 2011
Updated • Dec 10, 2012
Internet, Search
|
24

I'm not the only one who thinks that search quality has taken a dive in recent years. I do not want to paraphrase the whole argument again, but I believe it is a result of search engines trying to keep the users longer on their "property" and the rise of autoblogs, spam sites and other easy to setup sites.

So what's the best way to deal with search engines that do not provide the information you need, even if you know how to perform advanced searches?

Right, you create your own. I'm not saying that I did program a new search engine though; It is merely a custom search engine based on Google that concentrates on the best tech sites in the world.

You can access and try the search here https://www.ghacks.net/search.htm and I'd love to hear your thoughts about it, especially:

  • Are sites missing from search that you believe should be included?
  • Are sites included that do not belong there?
  • Would you like to see additional features?
  • Would you like to see other design elements, more design elements?

Please note that the search engine is no replacement for Google Search, Bing Search or Yahoo, Ask and other search engines. Let me give you an example why:

If you search the custom search engine for eBay you won't see eBay at the top. Why? Because it is not included in the list of sites. If you need a search engine to find eBay you should stick to the standard search engines.

A list of tech sites that are included in the search engine is available here as a Excel document: tech-sites

What you will get results for are related searches, best eBay sniper software, firefox 4 changes, ipad 2 reviews, windows 7 service pack 1 download, windows troubleshooting tips, computer repair and so on.

search engine

If you are looking for tips and tricks, best practices, gadget and software reviews, freeware and everything else that makes tech great, then this search engine is right for you. You won't find low quality results in the mix, no scraper sites and no spam and ad infested sites.

I'm sure that the search engine needs refinement, new sites that I missed to add, more controls and the like. I did have to start somewhere and this is it. You can test if your favorite tech site is included with a site:domain name search, e.g. site:ghacks.net.

Oh, and don't forget, let me know what you think. Here is the link again: Tech Search.

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Comments

  1. ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
    Reply

    Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on August 4, 2012 at 7:57 pm
      Reply

      Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.

    2. Leonidas Burton said on September 4, 2023 at 4:51 am
      Reply

      I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
      http://www.google.com/saved

  2. VioletMoon said on August 16, 2023 at 5:26 pm
    Reply

    @Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!

  3. Karl said on August 17, 2023 at 10:36 pm
    Reply

    @Martin

    The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
    https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/

    Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.

  4. Anonymous said on August 25, 2023 at 11:44 am
    Reply

    Omg a badge!!!
    Some tangible reward lmao.

    It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.

  5. Scroogled said on August 25, 2023 at 10:57 pm
    Reply

    With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.

    1. lollmaoeven said on August 27, 2023 at 6:24 am
      Reply

      This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)

  6. El Duderino said on August 25, 2023 at 11:14 pm
    Reply

    Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.

    And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.

  7. John G. said on August 26, 2023 at 1:29 am
    Reply

    First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm

    For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[

  8. Kalmly said on August 26, 2023 at 4:42 pm
    Reply

    Yes. Please. Fix the comments.

  9. Kim Schmidt said on September 3, 2023 at 3:42 pm
    Reply

    With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.

    Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.

    The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.

    If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.

    And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.

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