🖼 Europe is preparing to trial an open web index to reduce its dependence on Google and Bing
Europe Prepares to Pilot an Open Web Index to Reduce Dependence on Google and Bing
As Google users complain about the declining quality of search results and express concerns about GenAI integration, European organizations are striving to find alternative solutions. One of these initiatives aims to establish a public index to support new search engines and reduce Europe's reliance on Google and Bing.
The Open Web Index's early testing will commence next month. This emerging project may help European countries break away from ad-driven mainstream search engines. As US tech giants increasingly optimize search around generative AI and advertising, OpenWebSearch.eu plans to focus on cultivating non-profit alternatives.
The Open Web Index itself is not a search engine. Its function is similar to that of a digital library from which search engines can retrieve files and web pages. Large search engines rely on proprietary indexes, and small search engines often depend on them as well. According to the Open Web Project, this centralization has given companies like Google disproportionate control over the global web.
Regulators in the UK and the EU have been pushing back against US tech giants such as Apple and Google, especially on issues related to search and artificial intelligence.
Meanwhile, users worldwide report a continuous decline in search quality. Website operators also believe that Google is preventing users from leaving its ecosystem, and generative AI tools often struggle to provide accurate information. Some groups think that developing European-based alternatives is part of the solution.
To achieve this goal, a 14-member consortium (including universities, data centers, tech companies, and CERN) aims to fund and build the infrastructure for a robust and publicly accessible web index.
Small and medium-sized companies can use it to build search engines, large language models, or other applications that do not sell ads to users, or at least operate independently of US giants like Google and Bing.
The project also aims to promote applications that comply with European regulations, values, and culture. For example, in theory, EU search engines and LLM programs could provide more reliable search results in languages other than English. The consortium is also carefully considering how the index crawls web content and how click-through rates affect search rankings.
The first public trial will be launched via a Zoom meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon (Central European Summer Time) on June 6. Participants will have access to approximately 1PB of content. The final completed Open Web Index is expected to accommodate around 5PB of data and is planned to expand to 10PB in future iterations.
🗒 Tags: #Google #Bing #Search Engines
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