Fife search engine alternative to Google secures EU funding

A Kirkcaldy-based company has secured EU funding to develop a search engine that could become an alternative to Google.

The start-up company, Better Internet Search was launched by serial tech entrepreneur Dr. Gordon Povey, with the promise of increased privacy, fewer ads, and less bias.

It has teamed up with Danish-led Partisia Blockchain, a Web 3.0 platform built for trust, transparency, and privacy, and secured a grant from the EU-funded Next Generation Internet Trust (NGI Trust) to forge ahead with developing its platform.

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While most search engines make money through advertising, Better Internet Search and Partisia Blockchain are working together to develop an alternative that is both privacy-preserving and completely ad-free.

Dr Gordon Povey, from Kirkcaldy who has launched  Better Internet Search with the promise increased privacy, fewer ads, and less bias.Dr Gordon Povey, from Kirkcaldy who has launched  Better Internet Search with the promise increased privacy, fewer ads, and less bias.
Dr Gordon Povey, from Kirkcaldy who has launched Better Internet Search with the promise increased privacy, fewer ads, and less bias.

Rather than using valuable processing power and bandwidth to serve ads to users, the new approach to internet search engines leverages advanced algorithms to prioritise the results that searchers actually want.

With a token-based internal currency system and by leveraging Partisia Blockchain’s bespoke privacy-preserving solutions, the two are challenging the current advertisement model by using their proprietary data science technology, combined with the highest levels of privacy and security.

Dr Povey, who launched Better Internet Search in December 2020 said, “Ads not only get in the way of the results users want, they also bear click-bait, fake-news, scams, and other malware.

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“With an ad-based model, users are not really the customer, they are actually the product that is sold to advertisers.

“We have developed a new user-centric model that puts the customer front and centre, eliminating advertising and ensuring built-in user privacy at the core of everything we do.”

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