Blippex is a newcomer search engine that is essentially built by its users. The site takes users’ submissions in order to provide the data for search results. Its results are different from other popular search engines as it is anonymous and does not identify users. In contrast, Google’s search is not anonymous as its business is based on advertising, with much of it personal and targeted to the user. Blippex will have to prove it can rival the competition.

Many competing search websites attempt to imitate Google. “We thought it strange that to compete, you had to have the same search results as them,” says Max Kossatz, co-founder of Blippex (with Gerald Baeck). “I think that’s why there’s been no innovation in search in over 10 years.”

Blippex’s search results are based on data gathered from its users. One key feature of the site is privacy, where gathered data is anonymous and unconnected to a specific Blippex user.

The search engine’s algorithm, called DwellRank, determines relevance based on the duration users spend on a site and the number of times Blippex users have visited the site. According to an independent study from researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the amount of time a person spends on a Web page or other item, is a good measure of the Web page’s importance.