Why Neeva is the ad-free Google alternative we've been searching for

Search and I found each other quite soon. Before working in IT, I was a contractor who rated search results about current celebrity news to reinforce the machine learning of a news search engine. As part of my computer science degree, I wrote a research paper in my "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence" class about Hummingbird, Google's famous search algorithm. These days, I work for one of the most successful enterprise search companies in the world.

Long story short, I know what good search looks and feels like. And Neeva, who promises AI-powered privacy-first search, is great search all around. What exactly makes Neeva so relevant? How does it compare to Google? What is the difference between Neeva and DuckDuckGo, who both claim to be the alternative to Google search's invasiveness? Above all, why do these alternatives matter in the grand scheme of the internet? Let's find out.

What are Neeva and Neeva GIST?

Neeva is an ad-free Google search alternative, powered by the latest AI research. Its distinctive feature is the "Neeva synopsis", which leverages ChatGPT-like natural language processing to deliver summarized search results. How does this differentiate from the recent Bing search? Or what about Google Bard, aren't they all providing search results in natural language? All of these search providers use human feedback as well (like I used to do!) Well, Neeva did not stop at the chat box. Since early 2023, a beta version of its mobile search, named Neeva GIST, has introduced a user experience straight out of Instagram.

I used GIST to make a query about Megan Markle, as shown in the video. The experience is gorgeous and intuitive, providing multimedia content and multiple AI synopsizes. The "taps" allow users to drift between different searches, and the next thing I knew I was looking up Markle's family tree.

While Neeva feels like a challenger to Google's search monopoly, I believe it's GIST that could ultimately change the game. "Vanilla" Neeva is playing on Google's field, while GIST blows it all wide open for something completely different, if imperfect.

What problems of Google does Neeva fix?

The fundamental difference lies in the business model. Neeva does not use tracking technologies to power its relevance. As a matter of fact, it even blocks trackers! Neeva makes money by selling a subscription service, which includes the ability to search your Gmail and Dropbox, plus a VPN and a password manager on top of its privacy-first search. Quite the package! This means Neeva is incentivized to serve its customers - you, the people making the search queries! No advertisers to please!

The difference is profound when you query for commercial products because Google Shopping absorbs more and more of the screen's real estate. Compare the queries "Playstation 5" and "high heel sandals". While both queries may have a transactional intent, Neeva generally feels more informative, and less like a magazine. Neeva does recommend products in the high heels query, though it feels more "all over the place". Neeva's AI relates more to query semantics, whereas Google seems to leverage its e-commerce trove of data to push results based on its commercial interests.

Now look at GIST for the PS5. It's easy to dismiss the repetitiveness of the synopsis, yet when looking at it closely, you do get the big retailer's insights on the product in a more informative positioning. It's like the best of both worlds: a rich experience but without Google's conversion fluff.

Neeva really shines with its informational queries. GIST adds a relevant multimedia experience, as shown in the example of fixing a laptop. Similar to recipes, home improvements and repairs tend to fare better on Neeva. Now the real question is whether Google's relevance decreases because of its AI efforts or because it's faced with an impossibly high amount of SEO clutter that it just cannot function anymore. I'm with the latter. Google is a victim of its popularity.

Limitations of Neeva vs Google

GIST carries a powerful "wow" factor. Yet, after 3 weeks of using it, I noticed I jumped more easily to the Neeva browser or even to Google. In the end, most of my search involves quick glances: a visit typically takes me 3 seconds or less. GIST's immersive experience becomes both its biggest strength and weakness. The directive user journey does not fit quick informative queries.

The effect increases in combination with Neeva's general preference for informative queries. For example, a query of "Italy" gives encyclopedic knowledge, but never offers a trip option, whereas travelling to Italy would be a fair assumption of user intent. It's like Neeva reacts so strongly to Google's "shopping" approach that it forgets people want to buy online! This is not a moot point. If Google and Amazon hog all e-commerce searches, competition decreases.

The "swipe to continue" trick feels amazing at first but Neeva GIST remains too entrenched in its tight orchestration. It's ok not to have 5 identical AI synopsis!

Why breaking Google's search monopoly is so crucial

Google has been dominating search for 20 years. The result is an online experience optimized for advertisers, Google's true customers. We're the product here! Let's look at some controversies:

• Back in 2017, the EU Commission fined Google €2.42 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules. Google gave an illegal advantage to its shopping service over general commerce aggregators.
• In 2020, the US Department of Justice sued Google for monopolizing search and advertising. Many businesses must actually pay Google ads for their competitors not to hijack their Google search results!
• In 2023, the US DoJ strikes again with another antitrust lawsuit against Google. The DoJ alleges Google abuses its search monopoly and vertical integration into advertising to charge disproportionate amounts to customers.
• Google Ads are used to deliver malicious pages, the first place providing a form of authority to the criminals.

As I wrote in What's Going on With Google?, Google carries a certain amount of responsibility to its product (us) to be our window on the world. Yes, it's naïve to believe Neeva's success could lead the giant to flip its business model upside down, but a man can dream, right? It's time for you to get your relevant experiences back!

❓ Question of the Week

How should we change the verb "to Google" something? "Neeving" it sounds creepy!