Hi!
Kagi had a rough couple months on the PR side, and a comment from another Lemmy user arguing that they aren’t using Google’s index set me off… because I had just read a couple weeks ago on their own websites that they primarily use Google’s search index.
Lo and behold, that user was “right”: No mention of Google whatsoever on Kagi’s Search Sources page. If that’s all you had to go off of, you’d be excused for thinking they are only using their internal index to power their web search since that’s what they now strongly imply. The only “reference” to external indexes is this nebulous sentence:
Our search results also include anonymized API calls to all major search result providers worldwide, specialized search engines like Marginalia, and sources of vertical information […]
… Unless one goes to check that pesky Wayback Machine. Here is the same page from March 2024, which I will copy/paste here for posterity:
Search Sources
You can think of Kagi as a “search client,” working like an email client that connects to various indexes and sources, including ours, to find relevant results and package them into a superior, secure, and privacy-respecting search experience, all happening automatically and in a split-second for you.
External
Our data includes anonymized API calls to traditional search indexes like Google, Yandex, Mojeek and Brave, specialized search engines like Marginalia, and sources of vertical information like Wolfram Alpha, Apple, Wikipedia, Open Meteo, Yelp, TripAdvisor and other APIs. Typically every search query on Kagi will call a number of different sources at the same time, all with the purpose of bringing the best possible search results to the user.
For example, when you search for images in Kagi, we use 7 different sources of information (including non-typical sources such as Flickr and Wikipedia Commons), trying to surface the very best image results for your query. The same is also the case for Kagi’s Video/News/Podcasts results.
Internal
But most importantly, we are known for our unique results, coming from our web index (internal name - Teclis) and news index (internal name - TinyGem). Kagi’s indexes provide unique results that help you discover non-commercial websites and “small web” discussions surrounding a particular topic. Kagi’s Teclis and TinyGem indexes are both available as an API.
We do not stop there and we are always trying new things to surface relevant, high-quality results. For example, we recently launched the Kagi Small Web initiative which platforms content from personal blogs and discussions around the web. Discovering high quality content written without the motive of financial gain, gives Kagi’s search results a unique flavor and makes it feel more humane to use.
Of course, running an index is crazy expensive. By their own admission, Teclis is narrowly focused on “non-commercial websites and ‘small web’ discussions”. Mojeek indexes nowhere near enough things to meaningfully compete with Google, and Yandex specializes in the Russosphere. Bing (Google’s only meaningful direct indexing competitor) is not named so I assume they don’t use it. So it’s not a leap to say that Google powers most of English-speaking web searches, just like Bing powers almost all search alternatives such as DDG.
I don’t personally mind that they use Google as an index (it makes the most sense and it’s still the highest-quality one out there IMO, and Kagi can’t compete with Google’s sheer capital on the indexing front). But I do mind a lot that they aren’t being transparent about it anymore. This is very shady and misleading, which is a shame because Kagi otherwise provides a valuable and higher quality service than Google’s free search does.
I unsubscribed and deleted my Kagi account mainly because of their attitude to data privacy but also because of their nutjob CEO. When I subscribed I was excited because I thought they wanted to build a proper competitor to other search engine operators, but they are actually just another company that tries to shove AI into absolutely everything. So, after realising that they are an untrustworthy company full of tech maximalists trying to build the torment nexus, I immediately canceled my subscription and moved back to duckduckgo and marginalia. Maybe I give SearXNG another go, it’s just that selfhosting is a bit of a bother.
This will never stop being relevant about the Kagi CEO:
https://hackers.town/@lori/112255132348604770
Memory-holing Google tracks…
He offered to start a conversation about the blog post and give his perspective. The only thing I see here is the author refusing to stand on their post.
I didn’t read every little bit as well, but that was my take away as well. I saw an emotially invested CEO who could not bear seeing his baby dragged through the mud, and so he wanted to provide a counterpoint to what he saw as misinformation and accusations, but in a polite professional manner. My first instinct would be that he would have been wasting his time with that, but seeing as his comments got posted and they make a more convincing level headed argument then the accusations, maybe it was worth it.
I agree with this perspective. The CEO felt like the more reasonable guy here who wanted to respectfully and professionally clear his name through polite conversation. And the writer here seemed very aggressive. The line of questioning was outwardly hostile and accusatory with literally nothing for good evidence.
Just for some perspective, if you want to know how little reach the fedi post with the link to this blog post got: the first post in this thread already has more likes and boosts after less than a hour since posting it than my blog post ever did that he felt the need to confront me over.
The author probably wasn’t aware that their blog post has a huge engagement in hacker news just the day before and the CEO got roasted there, so the CEO probably felt the need to contact the author to “correct” their post.
The author was aware. They made a post regarding it getting posted to hackernews stating “I specifically requested for this not to happen.”
so the CEO probably felt the need to contact the author to “correct” their post.
This still makes the CEO seem like an unhinged fucking freak who does not respect personal boundaries, it literally makes him look no better, no matter how he came across it.
… Contacting someone makes you an: “unhinged fucking freak who does not respect personal boundaries”?
More people need to go touch grass, this is insane.
If someone posts an angry rant about your company and you email them to say “you’re wrong and I’m sorry you feel that way” that makes you an “unhinged … freak?” This is not the president sending the secret service to your college dorm room lol.
No, he started being an unhinged freak when it was a private email exchange.
Look, if it was a random kid on tiktok that’s one thing, but slinging (potentially) slanderous information around (and publishing it, technically) is a serious matter with real-world consequences. If someone made a blog post about how you torture animals and have a horrible taste in music, you’d probably want to do something about it.
Honestly, if the search results are good, anonymized, and consistent, I’m not worried about not using Google’s index. In all honesty, I’m much prefer it did NOT use Google. The further I can distance myself from their shady SEO/SEM practices, results stuffing, large site favoring, and monetization techniques, the better.
Ya, like wats even the issue here?
The issue is that they’re using it but no longer being explicit about that use.
Our search results also include anonymized API calls to all major search result providers worldwide…
Google search is the 800 lb gorilla in this space. When I read that, there’s no doubt in my mind that it includes Google.
This is disappointing. Due to Kagi requiring an account and billing I would say transparency should be vitally important for a them since privacy concerns are going to be a large reason a lot of people are looking to switch from Google in the first place. It’s always a concern brought up when search alternatives are discussed in forums and the “just trust me BRO” is going to start to ring kind of hollow if they play little games like this.
“Just trust me bro” is always bullshit with capitalism. On a long emough time line for-profit orgs will always expand to double/triple/quadruple/etc dip into their customer base. It might as well be a fundamental law of economics at this point.
Guys just use SearXNG . Stop relying on paid services from companies.
I’m just gonna block the word kagi on my lemmy client. I’ve been seeing a trend of people trying to create a big deal out of non issues trying to sell kagi for a long time. The amount of votes and some of the replies are always sus too.
