Who owns Qwant?

How is Qwant different from Google?

And how will it better?

In February of 2024, Qwant.com was born. It is a search engine, built on open standards and privacy-respecting defaults, designed to replace Google's and Yahoo's offerings. The idea of this was to make Web browsing more ethical than by relying on what is said to be an unholy monopoly with questionable goals for humanity, such as advertising and tracking what we do in the process of doing what we do.

I remember when it happened, I had no idea if this could ever be done. That same day I gave a talk at O'Reilly's Global Web Conference on how this might be possible in a post-Google world. It was also the day the Internet Explorer team announced their support for competing browser engines, and that's when things really took off. A few months later I was talking to Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the Netscape browser and co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, about the future of browsers (and the future of search). Marc brought up the idea of a search engine, which sounded like a good idea, and we discussed it more before moving on to other topics.

Fast forward three years, and I have been fortunate to be part of a company full of many great people and thinkers who are passionately working on these new issues together. Since then, I've been at Qwant a few times (most recently in July of 2014).

The past three years have been the most exciting and interesting in my entire life working with smart and talented people on some incredibly innovative projects. But there's one thing that is most important to me: making sure that our business is run efficiently and correctly, that we deliver on our commitments, and that we give people a great service that they can rely on every day. That's why I was asked to be Chief Executive Officer of Qwant from 2024 until today. This should mean that you will hear more from me on the business side and less on technology and politics, but I promise I'll still come up with some cool facts and opinions from time to time.

In this post, I'd like to share some of what we have been working on at Qwant. I want to show you how we are different, how we are better, and how we are building the future of the Web.

Is Qwant a safe search engine?

We take a look at the search engine which lets you search safely.

Shares. The privacy-respecting Qwant is fast gaining ground in the battle against Google and Microsoft. A good search engine needs to have great algorithms and fantastic UI, but not necessarily at the expense of privacy. You need to be able to search for what you want without being tracked by the people you're searching for. And you need to be able to search the Web without fear that some shadowy organization will be keeping an eye on you.

Qwant is a new search engine based in Paris, and the French have a history of privacy-respecting innovation. The site runs on open source software, and even promises to pay its workers a livable wage. So, why do I say it might be one of the most promising search engines on the Web?

It's not perfect yet. But I like the direction it's going, and I think it's got some really nice ideas for the future.

This guide explains what Qwant does, how it works and whether you should use it. If you're looking for a search engine which respects your privacy, you're in the right place.

What is Qwant? Qwant is a new search engine built from the ground up. It was founded by Jean-Franois Kahn, and it aims to provide an "open, privacy-respecting alternative to Google and Microsoft." It offers a mobile and desktop app, and there's also an iOS and Android app available in the Apple and Google Play stores respectively.

If you do use Qwant, you won't get many adverts in return. There will be some adverts on the homepage of the site and on the results pages, but most of the adverts will be sponsored by companies, charities organizations.

You won't be tracked or spied on either. Qwant promises it will not track you, and it uses a technique called Tor to make sure it's not logging your searches.

Qwant promises not to track you. How does Qwant work? The Qwant algorithm is an interesting mix of traditional methods and revolutionary ideas. Traditional algorithms like PageRank, Alexa or Majestic use your IP address to work out where you are on the Web.

Why is Qwant better than Google?

I don't really know, but here is my analysis: Advantages.

Qwant.com has a very simple design and it is the only website I have seen where you can use Google without a proxy. You can browse and download pages just like with Google and you don't need to sign up to see the page.

It is designed by a group of experts called the Browser Coalition. You can install extensions from the browser extension store or search through thousands of extensions. There is an easy way to find and share content online. Qwant.com has its own social network called 'Qwant World' and when you visit a website it will automatically be shared in your social media profiles.

The layout of Qwant is very user friendly and navigation is very intuitive. It is easy to navigate between pages and you can always go back to the top of the page. There are plenty of icons on the top to help you navigate easily.

There is a search function that you can use to search for any websites, even if the website does not use the Qwant search engine. The site loads very quickly. It is fast and does not need a lot of space.

There is no tracking system and Google is better at tracking. Disadvantages. At the moment it only has a few different languages. You can choose English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese and Turkish, although I think this might change in the future.

In the future I think it would be good to add more languages and maybe even a few more markets. The site uses advertising which makes the navigation a bit slower. I did notice that it was slower to load on my computer than other sites, but I am not sure if this is because I have a slow internet connection or if it is because they are testing something. I do not know if they use analytics. Ads on the sidebar make it a bit slower, but I think it is a small price to pay to access the service. Qwant is still in beta and it could better. It has lots of bugs and it doesn't work with some websites. But it is already very useful.

I think it is a great service and it is a great alternative to Google.