{"id":650574,"date":"2025-01-23T16:00:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google\/"},"modified":"2025-01-23T16:00:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T13:00:35","slug":"how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google\/","title":{"rendered":"#How to build a search engine to disrupt Google"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23c9e375984\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23c9e375984\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google\/#Heres_how_combining_cutting-edge_tech_human_curation_and_a_creator-focused_business_model_could_challenge_Googles_dominance\" >Here\u2019s how combining cutting-edge tech, human curation, and a creator-focused business model could challenge Google\u2019s dominance.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google\/#Step_1_Make_Google\" >Step 1: Make Google<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google\/#Step_2_Add_a_human_layer\" >Step 2: Add a human layer<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google\/#Step_3_Marketing\" >Step 3: Marketing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-google\/#Bing_maybe\" >Bing, maybe?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Heres_how_combining_cutting-edge_tech_human_curation_and_a_creator-focused_business_model_could_challenge_Googles_dominance\"><\/span>Here\u2019s how combining cutting-edge tech, human curation, and a creator-focused business model could challenge Google\u2019s dominance.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\n<p>We are at a uniquely and historically weak moment for Google.<\/p>\n<p>The quality of their results has even non-SEOs complaining, against a backdrop of being found illegally maintaining a monopoly and losing market share.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s more possible than ever for another search engine* to replace Google.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s a reason that no one has been able to supplant Google thus far (monopolistic advantages aside): no one has really tried to make a search engine meaningfully different from Google.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, here\u2019s my pitch for how to build a search engine (or AI search) to disrupt Google: a way to provide better results and motivate users to switch away from their familiar Google habit.<\/p>\n<p>In my plan, disrupting Google requires three steps \u2013 and a monumental amount of money.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-step-1-make-google\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_1_Make_Google\"><\/span>Step 1: Make Google<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first step is to duplicate what Google has done: build a modern search engine that:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Crawls the web.<\/li>\n<li>Categorizes and ranks content.<\/li>\n<li>Uses user behavior data to validate and train algorithms.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-step-2-add-a-human-layer\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_2_Add_a_human_layer\"><\/span>Step 2: Add a human layer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Next, we hire a team of subject matter experts and have them evaluate sites to determine how well they serve various topics.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We turn this into a ranking factor that can be weighted differently by query than other ranking factors.<\/p>\n<p>This is not just surface coverage. We need at least 2-3 experts reviewing each site\/topic combo to look for consensus (and catch malfeasance).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These are not random low-paid quality raters either; they know their subjects and know what a good and great article looks like.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They can identify:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The master baker who specializes in croquembouche.<\/li>\n<li>The hiker who has the best tips on the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>alachian Trail\u2019s 100-mile wilderness.<\/li>\n<li>The book reviewer who is an expert on Cozy Core titles.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I think it\u2019s fair to ask a search engine to outperform its competitors the same way they say websites need to: by offering real human expertise and insight rather than just scaled AI content.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"689\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http: alt=\"Offering real human expertise and insight\" class=\"wp-image-451043\" data-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight.jpg.webp 1600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-600x258.jpg.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-800x345.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-200x86.jpg.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-768x331.jpg.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-1536x661.jpg 1536w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight.jpg.webp\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"689\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Offering real human expertise and insight\" class=\"wp-image-451043\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight.jpg.webp 1600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-600x258.jpg.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-800x345.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-200x86.jpg.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-768x331.jpg.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Offering-real-human-expertise-and-insight-1536x661.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Automation and machine learning are essential, too.<\/p>\n<p>We need to build systems to find sites for this manual review team. What sites might be relevant for which topics?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Design it to surface sites that wouldn\u2019t normally rank due to lack of brand or authority signals in addition to reviewing the sites that dominate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This can turn our search engine into a discovery platform that helps users uncover hidden gems across the web while filtering out the recycled content that dominates Google today.<\/p>\n<p>When you search for a birdhouse plan, you get the guy who\u2019s been building birdhouses for 40 years and has 200 plans online, rather than Home Depot and This Old House ranking for every DIY search.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Home Depot can rank, too, if it\u2019s a great result for birdhouse plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No limits on what a site can rank for \u2013 just a quest for the best results, regardless of where they come from.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>All we care about is the quality of the content.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sites with endless ads, pop-ups, and layout shifts are always rated a bad experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So are recipe sites that take six screens and 500 words before they get to the start of the recipe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Good results must have a good user experience, and humans can spot in an instant the garbage Google\u2019s most advanced machine learning algorithms are blind to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The web is too large to evaluate every site and query out there manually \u2013 but our imaginary search engine doesn\u2019t have to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s looking at sites on the topic level, and for anything we haven\u2019t covered, we still have a Google-like search engine beneath.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-step-3-marketing\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_3_Marketing\"><\/span>Step 3: Marketing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s the real secret: Being better than Google isn\u2019t enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>People are so used to using Google that even with Google\u2019s results worse than ever, it will be hard to get a majority of their users to switch over.<\/p>\n<p>To really dominate search we need to get the entire web on our side by using the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> model.<\/p>\n<p>Pay 30% of our search ad revenue to the sites ranking organically.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We pay sites based on the traffic they get and the ad revenue for those queries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like YouTube, we set a minimum threshold and make the entire thing self-serve, and the highest-trafficked sites get reps they can talk to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This single move has so much capacity to make the entire web a better place. Just thinking about it drives me bonkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sites would have a way of monetizing that doesn\u2019t require shitty disruptive ads or potentially corrupting affiliate relationships.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sites would be motivated to make better content to rank better.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Google, the human layer of our hypothetical search engine means that sites can\u2019t rely on just tricking the algo ranking factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Search is such a disgustingly profitable enterprise that we can afford to give away 30% off the top.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bing-maybe\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bing_maybe\"><\/span>Bing, maybe?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This requires so many resources that I feel Bing might be the only company capable of making it a reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft has already taken the hardest and most expensive step of replicating Google.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest problem with Bing is that it never really tried to do anything substantially different to truly disrupt Google.<\/p>\n<p>Wouldn\u2019t it be great if instead of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2025\/1\/6\/24337117\/microsoft-bing-search-results-google-design-trick\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pretending to be Google<\/a> to keep people from leaving, they could proudly be Bing and attract new searchers?<\/p>\n<p>Can you imagine how compelling the commercial for the new Bing would be?<\/p>\n<p>I could imagine it so well that I wrote a fake commercial and hired Cool Cat Audio for the voiceover.<\/p>\n<p>Tell me this wouldn\u2019t get you to try out a new Bing:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rll-youtube-player\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UqDUcWIDJk8\" data-id=\"UqDUcWIDJk8\" data-query=\"feature=oembed\" data-alt=\"Bing is Better Commercial\"><\/div>\n<p><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bing is Better Commercial\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UqDUcWIDJk8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s a darker side to the marketing angle: we break the open web by incentivizing exclusivity deals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This could be explicit like offering a 40% cut instead of a 30% cut to sites that block other engines in their robots.txt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Or it could be implicit like the way Google paid Reddit $60 million for its data, and now Reddit <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/robots.txt\">blocks all other search engines<\/a> from crawling its site.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But I don\u2019t think we must go down that dark rabbit hole to win.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Using knowledgeable human evaluators combined with offering a cut to the sites that make our business should be enough to take a majority share of the search market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Best of all, anyone else who wants to compete is forced to share revenue, too, just to keep up. Tell me: Wouldn\u2019t this improve both a search engine and the entire web?<\/p>\n<p><em>*Call me optimistic, but I don\u2019t think conversational AI will replace search engines for anything other than short-answer or navigational queries. At best, they\u2019ll become a different back end for the search experience \u2013 basically a different form of ranking algorithm.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n<p>About the author<\/p>\n<div class=\"information\">\n<div class=\"author-module\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http: alt=\"Brian Wood\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Brian-Wood.jpg.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/Brian-Wood.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Brian Wood\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div class=\"about\">\n<div class=\"name\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Brian Wood<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"row g-2 pt-2\">\n<div class=\"col-auto twitter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2F&amp;region=follow_link&amp;screen_name=FrostheimWHU&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;variant=2.0\" rel=\"me\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-x-twitter\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-auto\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/brian-wood-4627766\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>Brian Wood is the VP of Growth in charge of SEO for Forbes Advisor. He\u00a0previously built and led the SEO teams for Wayfair and Houzz, among\u00a0others. He was once a minor World of Warcraft celebrity and spends most\u00a0of what free time he has gardening.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/build-search-engine-disrupt-google-451040\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s how combining cutting-edge tech, human curation, and a creator-focused business model could challenge Google\u2019s dominance. We are at a uniquely and historically weak moment for Google. The quality of their results has even non-SEOs complaining, against a backdrop of being found illegally maintaining a monopoly and losing market share.\u00a0 It\u2019s more possible than ever&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":650575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/01\/How-to-build-a-search-engine-to-disrupt-Google.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[48041,26293,78070],"class_list":["post-650574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-bing","tag-google","tag-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}