These terms govern use of SearchEngines.Net. They are deliberately short and readable, because a set of terms nobody can follow protects nobody. Using the site means accepting them; they were last revised on 19 August 2026, and any material change will be published on this page with a new date.
What the site is, and what it is not
SearchEngines.Net is an independent reference work about search engines. It publishes descriptions, history and analysis for readers who want to understand or choose a search engine. It sells nothing, provides no services, takes on no clients and enters into no engagements. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or acting for any search engine, company or organisation described on it, and no page here should be read as an official statement from any of them.
Nothing on this site constitutes professional advice of any kind — legal, technical, security, financial or otherwise — and reading it creates no professional relationship of any sort. Decisions taken on the basis of what is published here remain yours.
Acceptable use
The site may be read, quoted, cited, linked to, printed and shared for personal, educational, journalistic and research purposes. What is not acceptable:
- Wholesale republication. Copying pages or substantial parts of them onto another site, with or without attribution, and with or without machine paraphrasing, is not permitted. Quoting a passage with attribution is.
- Automated retrieval that degrades the service. Crawling politely is fine and is faintly appropriate for a site about crawlers. Aggressive scraping, high-frequency automated requests, or any activity that interferes with availability for other readers is not.
- Misrepresenting the site. Do not present this site, its author or its content as endorsing a product, engine, service or organisation, and do not imply an affiliation or partnership that does not exist. No such affiliation exists with any engine covered.
- Attempting to interfere with the site. Probing, attacking, overloading or attempting to gain unauthorised access to the site or the systems hosting it is prohibited.
- Unlawful use. Using the site in breach of applicable law, or to facilitate a breach by someone else, is prohibited.
Copyright in the site's own writing
The text, page structure, design, illustrations and code of this site are the author's own work and are protected by copyright. Facts are not owned by anyone: launch dates, ownership records, index figures and the identity of an engine's result provider are matters of record, and are cited here so they can be traced to their sources and used at that origin. The particular expression of those facts on these pages is not similarly free to take.
Short quotation with attribution is welcome. Attribution should name SearchEngines.Net and, where the medium allows, link to the page quoted. Requests for anything beyond short quotation — classroom material, an extract in a book, translation — can be raised through the contact page and are usually straightforward.
Trademarks and names
Search engine names, logos, product names and marks referred to on this site are the property of their respective owners. They are used here nominatively: to identify and describe the products and companies being written about, which is the only way a reference work about search engines can function. Their use implies no affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement or approval in either direction.
Accuracy and no warranty
The content of this site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranty of accuracy, completeness, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Considerable effort goes into sourcing what is published here, dating anything that can change, and hedging or omitting what cannot be verified — but search engines change constantly, sources conflict, and errors survive review. No guarantee is given that any page is current, complete or free of mistakes, and no undertaking is made that the site will be available without interruption or free of technical faults.
Outbound links are not endorsements
Pages here link to search engines, company documentation, blogs, encyclopaedia entries, regulators, archives and published research. Those links exist so that claims can be checked at their source. They are references, not recommendations, and a link to an engine's own site is emphatically not a statement that the engine is trustworthy, accurate about itself, or suitable for you. The destinations are outside this site's control; their content, availability, security and privacy practices are their operators' responsibility, and they may change at any time without this site knowing.
Limitation of liability
Use of this site is at your own risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither the site nor its author is liable for any loss or damage — direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or otherwise — arising from use of, or reliance on, anything published here, from any error or omission in it, from its unavailability, or from anything found on a site linked to from it. Where liability cannot lawfully be excluded, it is limited to the minimum permitted by the applicable law.
Changes, severability and general
Pages are revised as engines change and as better sources emerge; the site may be altered, restructured or withdrawn without notice, and no undertaking is given to preserve any particular page or address, although redirects are maintained where practical. These terms may be updated, and continued use after a revision is published constitutes acceptance of it. If any provision here is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in force. Nothing in these terms limits any right you have that cannot lawfully be limited.