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Review HN: Google replacement, use other search engines along with Google

2 points by amitvjtimub ↗ HN
Please review my project

Url: http://www.shodhel.com/

It replaces Google as default search engine, still allows you to access Google as usual.

Only thing is you can access other search engines by clicking on Back button.

Everyone here will find it useful. And you can safely use it as Google replacement since you don't compromise privacy (query is part of URL fragment) or speed of searches (adds approx. 50ms on Firefox, even less on Chrome).

This really is a basic version. I will be adding some vital features in coming weeks. But I wanted your feedback if you will use it. There is no reason why you shouldn't but I would like to know what will make you use it daily.

I see immense potential here, I would love to know what you think.

7 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 29.9 ms ] thread
photon_off
I made a solution to the exact same problem: http://www.dashler.com

Very interesting implementation you have with the back button. Great idea there. Personally, I don't like using the in-browser search thing. It just never became a habit.

madhouse
While using the back button is a neat trick, it looks kinda awkward...

Couldn't you have a toolbar or similar on top instead (or in addition to the back button thing, thus getting rid of the even more annoying popup)?

The idea is interesting, nevertheless, but the user experience could use some love.

(And no, I'm not going to use it. DDG is my default search engine, and the !bang searches there cover all my needs)

photon_off
Wow. I never knew about the "!" feature. Awesome.
amitvjtimub
But what if you access DDG as usual but access Google on clicking on back button. You know you need to access Google sometimes. That customization is planned. Thanks for you feedback.
madhouse
If I want to access google (which is pretty damn rare), there's DDG's !g, and the "No more matches found, check google." link at the end.

For me, it is easier to prefix my search string with !g than to hit the back button. Especially if I already navigated a few pages through DDG results.

The back button is also an annoyance when, for example, I had an open tab, wrote a search string into the address bar and hit enter by mistake: I'd want to get back to the page I originally was at, so I hit back, and I get your search engine selection screen.

Isn't that intuitive in that case, I'm afraid.

The idea is good, but... I don't think it'd work well for this kind of thing.

dbingham
You're much too focused on allowing people to 'use google as usual' and I dislike having to hit the back button to access other engines. I also dislike that I get that popup notice telling me about hitting the back button long before I get any other results. If you want to see how a search engine aggregator is done, take a look at torrents.to.

Legal disclaimer, I don't condone downloading illegal torrents. I just think torrents.to is a well done search engine aggregator.

Also, it needs a lot of styling work. I hit that page and immediately distrusted it because of its antiquated design and styling.

Otherwise I like the idea, and if you improve the UX and IU I might use it.