Web sites that let you access multiple search engines are nothing new. Dogpile and similar services have been around for years. But a couple of new multi-site search engines are making the search process prettier, if not more useful. Sputtr and Symbaloo let you search one site at a time, but from a central location. The idea is that you'll bookmark one of these sites, and then you'll never have to visit Google, Yahoo!, or any other search engine again. Sort of.
With Sputtr, you enter your search term in the box, then click the icon for the search engine or service (like eBay, YouTube, or StumbleUpond) that you want to search. Your result will pop up in the same window, or in a new window if you adjust your settings. You can customize the buttons available on the main page by selecting from dozens of additional search engines. But you cannot currently add your own sites.
Symbaloo is a similar service, but it's a bit trickier to navigate. The site's buttons don't represent individual services, but rather categories. For example, click on News, and you can search CNN or Google News. While you can add RSS feeds, links and widgets, you cannot yet add your own search engines.
[via Alt Search Engines]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-02-2007 @ 2:33PM
grant said...
That sounds cool and all, but isn't it pointless with Firefox, IE7, etc.? They all have the personalized search boxes with the ability to add your own search engines and even program your own. Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems a bit outdated.
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7-02-2007 @ 3:06PM
Jolene said...
I really like Sputtr; it's a very useful startpage!
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7-02-2007 @ 4:39PM
ahoier said...
that's exactly what I was thinking, it's a little prettier than about:blank - but it loads faster than iGoogle...
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