Mojeek ( ) is a UK-based search engine known for its focus on privacy and independence from other major search indexes. Established with a commitment to user privacy, Mojeek operates its own crawler-based index, setting it apart from search engines that rely on third-party search results, such as those from Google or Bing. Unlike many mainstream search engines, Mojeek does not track, profile, or personalize search results, ensuring an unbiased and transparent search experience for its users. Founded by Marc Smith, Mojeek has grown steadily as an alternative for those seeking privacy-respecting search options. With its technology focused on privacy and transparency, Mojeek appeals to users who value data security and freedom from targeted advertising.
History
In 2004, the Mojeek search engine started out as a personal project by Marc Smith at the
Sussex Innovation Centre. The search technology was created from the ground up using mostly the
C programming language and for much of its early life, the servers were run from Smith's bedroom.
In 2006, Mojeek became the first search engine to have a no
tracking privacy policy. This policy remains in place to this day.
After receiving investment, Mojeek was officially incorporated as a
limited company
In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
in 2009.
On 26 January 2011, it was highlighted as an alternative British-based search engine during a Parliamentary debate on UK internet search engines over "allegations of manipulation of
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
's search results, particularly the unfavourable treatment of its unpaid and sponsored results, and the preferential placement of
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
own services."
As of 2013, Mojeek's
servers are run from the Custodian
data centres in
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
, which bills itself as "one of the greenest data centres in the UK."
On 15 April 2015, the
BBC's World Global Show and
Radio 5 Live talked to Smith about the Mojeek search engine and the
EU's decision to file a complaint against Google over alleged
anti-competitive behaviour.
In 2017, in partnership with EMRAYS Technologies, Mojeek launched a demo of their emotional search engine which allows users to search for pages with certain emotional content.
As of May 2019, Mojeek's index contained over 2.3 billion pages,
and by April 2020, that number had increased to over 3 billion. As of June 2021 Mojeek has 4 billion pages and in March 2022, 5 billion pages. It hit the 6 billion mark in October 2022.
In 2022, Mojeek became the default search engine of Privacy Browser. It was subsequently added to
Pale Moon and the
SerenityOS web browser
A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...
.
Starting mid-2023, Kagi Search lists Mojeek as one of the sources for its results.
Key features
Mojeek is a crawler-based search engine that provides independent search results using its own index of web pages, rather than using results from other search engines. Mojeek also displays significantly more individual entries in its search results than Google or Bing.
Etymology
On 23 October 2022, Mojeek confirmed on Twitter that there is no real meaning or genuine etymology behind the word "mojeek" and that the word was simply made up.
Tweet about Mojeek
/ref>
See also
* Comparison of web search engines
* List of search engines
* List of search engines by popularity
References
External links
*
{{Web search engines
British websites
Internet search engines