BOSTON - Feb. 7, 2021 - Lynn Bentley, President Knobull, Inc. asked, "Which academic search engine is better at finding the information you want, fast? For a variety of reasons, Knobull was rated higher than Google by The College Post.
Knobull may just be one of those competitors, especially if you're looking for privacy that you may not get elsewhere. Knobull has plenty more to offer student searchers. What follows is an answer the question: which academic search engine should you use?"
Founded in 2008, Knobull, Inc. claims to not store personal information of its users, ever and with numerous enhancements relaunched in 2020. "Our privacy policy is simple: we don't collect or share any of your personal information," the website says in the Privacy page.
It has a similar layout to many search engines, including:
Knobull uses Refseek with other sources to compile its search results, including 5 billion academic documents. Also, a Messageboard for a secure system that provides an opportunity for students to collaborate, student news picked by students and Resources Page with links to a majority of academic sources.
There are some other attractive features that Knobull offers its users, but its biggest messaging points come from:
The brand's high standards for privacy.
Being an efficient and respectable search engine despite its projected small piece of search market share.
Knobull has over 5000 followers with a projected 10,000 users by mid-2021. If it keeps growing at this rate, more people will continue to take notice and that number could reach 100,000 by early 2022.
A staple of its foundation, Knobull preaches its desire to not track any information of its users or their searches, and offering the most private academic search engine on the market.
Its clean interface and simple user experience make using the platform a somewhat-unique search experience. Usability seems to be a primary focus, and it shows. It's also aesthetically pleasing while still following the basic minimalistic concept and layout of other search engines.
The question remains, which academic search engine should be used. What works best for you is the right answer here. It's all about preference. Other academic search engines can likely get you the answer your looking for, and in a time-efficient manner.
Anyone who is passionate about privacy would likely lean toward – and prefer – Knobull solely for its strong privacy policies but also since it is a better-than-average academic search engine trying to do right for the people. And it does a strong job in achieving that.
Bentley concluded, "That doesn't change the fact that, if you can't find an answer on Knobull through search or the Resources page, you're going to go to another search engine to find it. And you will find it there but at what lack of privacy price!"
