DuckDuckGo and Wolfram Alpha are two alternative search engines (ok,one’s a “computation engine“) designed to deliver on the user’s search experience in ways that are different from Google’s.
Both have come attached with the fabled “Google Killer” label at one time or another. The notion that either of these are in fact killing Google is absurd of course, but that doesn’t mean they don’t provide interesting alternatives, especially when put together.
The Wolfram Alpha team says on its blog:
As a result of this partnership, DuckDuckGo will expand Wolfram|Alpha integration into its search site and will maintain the now-official Wolfram|Alpha API Perl binding.
Users of the up-and-coming search site DuckDuckGo know that the site is unique because it doesn’t track history, contains less spam, features a cute bow tie-wearing duck, and provides zero-click information that immediately pops up under the search box. Since the release of the Wolfram|Alpha API, DuckDuckGo has been gradually integrating Wolfram|Alpha’s computational knowledge engine into its offerings, providing users with dynamically computed facts.
DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg (see our recent interview with him here) had this to say:
DuckDuckGo has been using Wolfram|Alpha (via their API) for about two years now. I actually was an alpha tester and authored the Perl API binding. I’ve also open sourced the regular expressions I use to determine if a query is relevant to send Wolfram|Alpha. Needless to say, I’m a big fan.
So I am very pleased to jointly announce that we are now official partners. As a result, you should see an even tighter integration over time. And I will have a more official responsibility of maintaining the Perl API, which is in need of a V2 update (feel free to submit bug reports here via CPAN).
Weinberg recently told WebProNews, “I’m not anti-Google.”
That doesn’t sound like a Google Killer does it?
He did say, however, that DuckDuckGo’s results are just as relevant without tracking your search history.