Gigablast Explained

Gigablast
Type:Search engine
Registration:Optional
Language:English
Programming Language:C/C++
Owner:Gigablast, Inc.
Location:Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States[1]
Author:Matt Wells
Launch Date:[2] [3]
Current Status:Offline
gb
Developer:Matt Wells
Discontinued:yes
Latest Release Version:1.20-1 (x64,[4] i386[5])
Programming Language:C/C++
Operating System:Linux
Genre:search engine
License:Apache License 2.0
Repo:https://github.com/gigablast/open-source-search-engine

Gigablast was an American free and open-source web search engine and directory. Founded in 2000, it was an independent engine and web crawler,[6] developed and maintained by Matt Wells, a former Infoseek employee and New Mexico Tech graduate.[7] During early April 2023, the website went offline without warning and without any official statement.

The open-source search engine source code is written in the programming languages C and C++. It was released as open-source software under the Apache License version 2, in July 2013.[8] In 2015, Gigablast claimed to have indexed over 12 billion web pages.[9]

The Gigablast engine provided search results to other companies at various times, including Ixquick,[10] Clusty,[11] Zuula, Snap,[12] Blingo, and Internet Archive.[13]

Background

Matt Wells worked for the Infoseek search engine until he left in 1999, to start working on what would become Gigablast, coding everything from scratch in C++. It was originally designed to index up to 200 billion web pages.[14] Gigablast went into beta release on July 21, 2002.[15]

Features

Gigablast supported various specialized searches and Boolean algebra operators.[16] It also supported a related-concept feature called Giga Bits[17] and a blog-search feature.[18]

A feature called Gigabits provided relevant information in addition to what the user was searching for.[19]

Gigablast also claimed to be, as of 2010, the "leading" clean energy search engine with 90 percent of its power coming from wind energy.[20]

Acquisition

In 2013, it was reported that Yippy had agreed to acquire Gigablast Inc.[21] However, later on, Gigablast author Matt Wells said that no acquisition took place and that Gigablast remained independent.

Critical reception

In 2003, The New York Times columnist Lee Dembart stated that "Gigablast has its adherents", but opined that Google is "head and shoulders" above it, and adds that Google's search results are more complete.[22] In 2016, a Lifewire reviewer felt that Gigablast is easy to use and liked the Gigabits feature.[23]

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gigablast Inc . Yellowpages.
  2. Web site: Review of Gigablast. 31 March 2008. Search Engine Showdown. Notess. Greg R.. 1 August 2013. 14 July 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230714120913/http://searchengineshowdown.com/features/gigablast/review.html. dead.
  3. Web site: Bare Bones lesson 14: GIGABLAST. Bare Bones 101: A basic tutorial on searching the web. The University of South Carolina Beaufort. 2000. Ellen. Chamberlain.
  4. Web site: Archived copy . 2018-01-02 . 2023-03-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230301015236/http://www.gigablast.com/gb_1.20-1_amd64.deb . dead .
  5. Web site: Archived copy . 2018-01-02 . 2015-03-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150318050957/http://www.gigablast.com/gb_1.20-1_i386.deb . dead .
  6. News: Burge . Randy . New Mexico's soil fertile for brainchilds . 8 December 2013 . Albuquerque Tribune . 11 June 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131213022052/http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jun/11/randy-burge-new-mexicos-soil-fertile-brainchilds/ . 13 December 2013 .
  7. Web site: Matt Wells' Career Highlights. Wells. Matt. Gigablast. 22 January 2020. 23 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200123162736/http://www.gigablast.com/bio.html. dead.
  8. Web site: Gigablast Now an Open Source Search Engine . PR Newswire . 8 December 2013 . 30 July 2013.
  9. Web site: FAQ. Wells. Matt. Gigablast. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160220203305/http://gigablast.com/admin.html. 20 February 2016.
  10. Web site: Ixquick Q&A. Ixquick. 8 December 2013. January 2009.
  11. Web site: Do Alternative Search Engines Measure Up?. PC World. 8 December 2013. 23 October 2007. 23 January 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150123211200/http://www.pcworld.com/article/133265/article.html. dead.
  12. News: Snap Enters Field Of Search Engines With Some Twists. Delaney. Kevin J.. 6 October 2004. The Wall Street Journal. 8 December 2013. subscription.
  13. Web site: Gigablast. Gigablast to Build the Biggest Search Engine. 1 July 2015. PR Newswire.
  14. Web site: Search Engine Optimization Advice for Gigablast. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180305193957/https://metamend.com/archive/past-engines/search-engine-gigablast/. 2018-03-05. 2020-01-22. Metamend. en-US.
  15. Web site: New! GigaBlast in Beta. Notess. Greg R.. 21 July 2002. Search Engine Showdown. 22 January 2020. 15 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190415234150/http://searchengineshowdown.com/2002/07/new_gigablast_in_beta/. dead.
  16. Web site: Rubenking. Janet. Search Smarter. PC Magazine. 8 December 2013. 1 February 2003. 11 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131211192450/http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1162097,00.asp. dead.
  17. Book: Shaw, Maura D.. Mastering Online Research: A Comprehensive Guide to Effective and Efficient Search Strategies. 2007. Writer's Digest. 978-1582974583. 81. https://books.google.com/books?id=Ij6PBJHVoiIC&q=gigablast&pg=PA81. Conducting Advanced Searches.
  18. Web site: Arrington. Michael. Profile – Gigablast (Blog Search). Tech Crunch. 8 December 2013. 9 July 2005.
  19. Web site: GigaBlast Search Engine : Hand Built Algorithmic Search. Radhakrishnan. Arun. 28 August 2007. Search Engine Journal.
  20. Web site: Remember Gigablast?. Notess. Greg R.. 19 May 2010. Search Engine Showdown. 22 January 2020. 16 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190416000042/http://searchengineshowdown.com/2010/05/remember_gigablast/. dead.
  21. Web site: Acquisition of Gigablast by Yippy Leaves Some Questions Unanswered. Arnold. Stephen E.. 19 July 2013. ArnoldIT.
  22. News: Dembart. Lee. Being Googled. The New York Times. March 24, 2003. Google is indispensable to anyone who uses the Internet. It isn't the only search engine — Teoma has its adherents, as does Gigablast — but Google is head and shoulders above the others..
  23. Web site: Search the Web with Gigablast. Collins. Jerri. 18 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20190115075751/https://www.lifewire.com/search-web-with-gigablast-3482013. 15 January 2019. dead.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gigablast".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.