Now I primarily use ChatGPT and Claude for my information.
However, I still need a search engine to find primary datasets, primary images, et cetera.
I prefer content from the personal blogs and websites of real people. I particularly love researchers who post their research to their own sites (in addition to or in preference of journals).
What engine should I switch to?
I don't want any sites to appear that contain ads or paywalls.
Right now I'm using Kagi, but appending site:*.edu to my queries to exclude paywall sites like ResearchGate.net.
Is there something better?
I like the Google product, it's the search index that's full of junk.
When researching and looking for high quality, original source content, I want a different index than what they currently offer.
If anyone knows of a solution, would love to learn!
The API is currently free and also has that feature.
I've been working on tools to make Google search better for a couple of years now and have gathered 18 of them into a site called SearchTweaks: https://searchtweaks.com/ . The site is completely free (no cost, no ads, no tracking.) You might find No Shop Sherlock useful, or one of the query builders.
Still a little too commercial to be my primary, but thank you!