Slick
The World's Most Customizable Search Engine
I've noticed something frustrating about search lately.
The internet keeps getting bigger...
but finding the right answer doesn't always feel easier.
A lot of searches now lead to:
- SEO-filled articles
- pages written for ranking instead of helping
- outdated content
- results that technically match but miss the intent
The problem isn't that search engines can't find pages.
The problem is finding the page you actually wanted.
That got me thinking:
What would a search engine look like if it was built from scratch today?
Not a wrapper around another search API.
Not a browser feature.
A real search engine with its own crawler, index, and ranking system.
So I started building Slick.
The idea is simple:
Give users more control over how they search.
I'm experimenting with things like:
- independent web crawling
- semantic search
- customizable ranking
- privacy-focused design
- letting users influence their own results
The interesting part is that search has a lot more tradeoffs than I expected.
Improving one thing can hurt another.
More personalization can improve relevance, but can also hide new information.
More AI understanding can help with intent, but sometimes exact keyword matching is still better.
A bigger index doesn't automatically mean better results.
I'm still early, and I don't think building a search engine is something you "finish".
It's a constant process of improving relevance.
I'm curious...
When you use a search engine today, what is the biggest thing that annoys you?
Is it:
- too many ads?
- SEO spam?
- bad relevance?
- privacy concerns?
- something else?
I'm building Slick around these problems and would genuinely love feedback from people who search the web every day.
Before I started building a search engine, I thought ranking results was mostly about finding the most relevant page.
Now I spend a lot of time thinking about spam, duplicate content, SEO manipulation, freshness, authority, and how small ranking changes can completely change what people discover.
It's made me realize there isn't a single "correct" search result. Every search engine is making tradeoffs, whether they tell users or not.
That's one of the reasons I started building Slick. I wanted users to have more control over those tradeoffs instead of treating one ranking algorithm as objectively correct.
Building a search engine has changed the way I browse the web.
Has building your product changed how you think about the industry you're in?
Search is one of the most important tools on the internet, but users have very little control over it.
The same few companies decide how billions of people find information every day. Their algorithms are powerful, but they are also a black box. You cannot easily change how results are ranked, what sources are prioritized, or what matters most to you.
I started building Slick because I wanted to see what search would look like if users were actually in control.
Slick is an independent search engine with its own index, built from scratch. Instead of forcing everyone to use the same ranking system, Slick focuses on customization. Users can adjust rankings, personalize results, and decide what matters to them.
Building a search engine has been a much bigger challenge than I expected. Crawling the web, storing billions of pieces of information, fighting spam, and making results actually useful are all difficult problems.
But I think search is worth rethinking.
I’m curious:
What is the biggest thing you would change about modern search engines?
Better results? More control? Less tracking? Something else?
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I like that you're questioning the assumptions behind ranking rather than treating search quality as something only the index can improve.
I'll be interested to see which ranking controls users consistently choose to change after trying the product. Those patterns will probably reveal whether people really want more control—or simply a search engine that aligns better with how they already think.
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