Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the leading competitors to Google in searching the world wide web.Design methodology approach - This paper discusses six search engines that are alternatives to Google: Bing, Wolfram Alpha, Topsy, Scoopler, Scribd, and Data.govFindings - The paper finds that all but Bing among the six search tools have a narrower and more defined approach than Google. Each has value in context.Originality value - The paper provides an evaluation of when these more specialized tools would be useful to internet searchers.