Wikipedia working on a 'transparent' search engine to rival Google

Wikipedia might soon rival Alphabet’s Google, Microsoft’s Bing and other search engines as it has announced plans for an ad-free Internet search engine that prioritises user privacy and transparency. According to a report by News Week, Wikipedia has launched a $2.5 million program to build “the Internet’s first transparent search engine.” Wikimedia’s application for a $250,000 grant from the Knight Foundation states, “Commercial search engines dominate search-engine use of the Internet, and they’re employing proprietary technologies to consolidate channels of access to the Internet’s knowledge and information.” In addition, the organisation has tried to be more clear on the matter and states that, “We are not building Google… The Wikimedia movement’s vision is to make the sum of all human knowledge freely available to everyone. Wikipedia is our largest and most well-known project, but there are many other projects like Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata that move us towards realising our vision.” Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales had previously attempted to build a search engine in 2009, but the Wikia project was eventually abandoned due to lack of success. However, he stated that he would return again in his career to search, either as an investor, a contributor, a donor or a cheerleader.