Freespoke is apparently a new search engine that apparently “doesn't censor viewpoints and respects privacy.” While many new platforms make similar claims, but with mixed results, I am happy but cautious to see if this new search engine has any merit or staying power.
From an aesthetics perspective, the site is CLEAN and modern, already a plus. The search is just at the top of their site on web however… it appears to be MORE than just search.
As you scroll further down, Freespoke appears to be a news aggregator in addition to a search engine. This makes me a bit weary because any aggregator (Rantingly, Drudge Report, etc.) usually comes with an editorial slant, even if you agree with the editor.
What stands out to me though, is that the news stories they aggregate, they provide MULTIPLE sources for, and label those sources Right, Middle, and Left. This is something that I have not seen elsewhere before and seems like a really healthy development for doing self research on a topic and trying to educate yourself from all angles to find out what is really going on (since the news from pretty much any side cannot be trusted.)
I also really like the “Censored Stories” section. If you click “view all” it expands to an entire timeline of censored stories and things that have been memory holed from the internet. This seems like an extremely useful tool to research topics that Big Tech and the current political regime find too inconvenient for the public to have access to.
Even their “Breaking News” Twitter feed on the side of their site labels Twitter accounts as Right, Middle and Left. Not sure how accurate that is, but seems like a great way to add a grain of salt to tweets when consuming the endless feed.
Monetization:
Every website/company has to make money, and this is what has gotten Big Tech into really sketchy stuff over the years selling your data etc. I am not 100% certain what Freespoke’s entire business model looks like, but on the top of their site, they have a products section where it looks like they either dropship or do affiliate partnerships with companies that sell American made goods.
If that is the case, I have zero issues with that. It will be interesting to see if Freespoke is monetizing in other ways as well. Hopefully they stay true to their commitment to respecting your privacy.
Lastly, Freespoke has apps on BOTH the Google Play store and the Apple App Store… for now. This is huge for user adoption.
My overall take is that this platform appears to be better than competitors such as DuckDuckGo and maybe even Brave search from a UX and feature perspective. If they will truly show search results hidden by everyone else, it has the opportunity to be a killer app. Time will tell.
Thanks for the honest review, the fairness and impartiality is refreshing. just what I am looking for in reviews. Subscribed, :)
Hey @SWIG, are you still using Freespoke? Any updated feedback?