BOSTON - March 14, 2021 - We agree, untangling ourselves from the overreach of Google can be a monumental task. To some, the convenience of the Google ecosystem is an acceptable trade-off. But at what point does convenience transform into creepy?
That's where Knobull, the academic search engine with learning skill building tools that emphasizes privacy, enters the picture. The site features include direct links to all facets of the academic process, contact page that provides users with answers to learning questions, a forum to facilitate the exchange of information between students, student focused news and academic search engine service Refseek one click away to support these features. User traffic is expected to explode and this is no coincidence. The company's visibility is expected to skyrocket at several inflection points quickly after seed investment funds are received.
Lynn Bentley, President of Knobull attributes the company's mindshare to a rapidly increasing promotion of privacy. "Our expected growth in traffic and exposure reflects the increasing public awareness and growing concern that personal data is not being treated properly online, and our fundamental right to privacy is not being properly respected by many companies," Bentley says. "Put simply, people are fed up, and are now doing something about it. They have responded positively to our 'easy switch' campaign!"
It's also why the creator of the internet as we know it has started a new venture to reclaim privacy and take the power back from the mega-corps that control the majority of the internet. Also in 2017 DuckDuckGo, a leader in this endeavor, commissioned a study that estimated 24% of us consider privacy a crucial consideration for their next device purchase. The vast majority of the respondents also said that they'd switch to a new search engine if it didn't collect information on them. So privacy is going mainstream, but Google remains a seductive giant. Knobull will be part of the solution?
What makes Knobull special is how aggressively it promotes privacy when it comes to student's research habits. In addition, the team conducted a user survey with a significant group of students which received a 86% positive response. Making the switch isn't the only thing students should do to protect online privacy, but it's a significant — and cathartic — first step.
Bentley concluded, "We are capturing a new niche in the massive mobile promotion market. For example, if a student searches for a research source, they are directed to top ranked, non-commercial sources without the use of information about the individual. In fact, since Knobull does not collect any personal information, we do not even have the concept of search histories."
