To understand the Onion or Tor search engine, one should learn or know what a search engine is and how a regular clearnet search engine works.
A search engine in the clearnet works when a user enters and searches a query or any keyword of their choice, and the search engine will provide the results for the question or the keyword.
Some of the clearnet search engines are Google, Bing, duckduckgo, yahoo search, etc.,
There are differences between a search engine and a web browser.
For example, Google is a search engine, while google chrome is a browser. Likewise, Firefox, safari of Apple, Microsoft Edge, and internet explorer are browsers.
It is the same in the dark web, where Tor is a browser, and many search engines are available in the Tor network to provide the results for .onion links.
To access the Onion search engines, one has to install the Tor Browser from the official link https://www.torproject.org/download/
It’s because the onion links will work only on the Tor network.
How to access the onion links safely?
To access the onion links safely, always use a VPN or a premium VPN while browsing the dark web.
Maintain your anonymity.
Don’t share any personal details like email IDs or phone numbers.
Always ensure you are entering the right domain and not a phishing link.
Below are some of the Onion search engines.
Onion Index Search Engine :
Link: http://oniondxjxs2mzjkbz7ldlflenh6huksestjsisc3usxht3wqgk6a62yd.onion/
Search results: onion links.
Number of indexed domains: 2 million +(approximate)
The Onion Index search engine provides results for onion links. All the search results are primarily relevant to the search keyword. Although the results are most appropriate, it still needs to improve the search method and should provide prior results. They have a URL submission program where users can submit their URLs for Indexing.
DuckDuckGo Search Engine :
Link: https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion/
Search results: Clearnet links.
Number of indexed domains: 8-14 billion websites(approximate).
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that mostly gets its indexing results from Bing. As it doesn’t have any webmaster tools, it is believed that duckduckgo will introduce its webmaster tools in the future. DuckDuckGo is famous for its private browsing. It doesn’t store your data like IP, search keywords, search terms, etc.; it is a private browsing experience. DuckDuckGo is the search engine used by the Tor Browser.
Torch Search Engine:
Link: http://xmh57jrknzkhv6y3ls3ubitzfqnkrwxhopf5aygthi7d6rplyvk3noyd.onion/
Search results: onion links.
Number of indexed domains: 1 million +(approximate)
Torch is one of the oldest search engines on the dark web. The search results are appropriate most of the time, but still, the search for some keywords needs to be more relevant. They don’t have a URL submission or indexing option. They provide only the results of onion links. Regarding the quality and the update, they don’t have any updates from the release. They have only a single version of the search engine—an outdated search engine with more results.
Metager:
http://metagerv65pwclop2rsfzg4jwowpavpwd6grhhlvdgsswvo6ii4akgyd.onion/
Search results: clearnet links.
Number of indexed domains: 1 Million +(approximate)
Metager is a German search engine. The metager.org created it as a dark web search engine project. The results are clearnet links. They have a clearnet search engine, and the results and mechanism of the search engine are fetched from the clearnet. There is a slight difference in the search results compared to the clearnet results.
Ahmia Search engine :
Link: http://juhanurmihxlp77nkq76byazcldy2hlmovfu2epvl5ankdibsot4csyd.onion/
Search results: onion links.
Number of indexed domains: 100K +(approximate)
Like Torch, Ahmia is also one of the oldest search engines on the dark web. The search results are focused and stuffed with repeated links to the websites. The results are only the onion links. URL submission for Indexing is closed. No update to the links. They still show up some V2 links that expired last year. They need to update and provide a new version of the search engine.
Onion Land Search Engine :
Search results: onion links.
Number of indexed domains: 400K +(approximate)
Onion Land is the newly launched search engine. The results are mostly appropriate, but it is too focused on the sponsored links. Search results should be increased in terms of the quality of the links that have been indexed. Also, new links should be updated periodically by them. No further updates or versions released after its launch.
Hidden Wiki:
Link: http://wiki47qqn6tey4id7xeqb6l7uj6jueacxlqtk3adshox3zdohvo35vad.onion/
Hidden Wiki is a dark web Wikipedia with a directory of links to the dark web. Users of the dark web were using the hidden Wiki for the onion links provided on the directory now and before.
Downloading and installing a TOR Browser :
Tor browser can be downloaded and installed from https://www.torproject.org/download/.
Do not download the Tor browser from any other source.
Current versions of the Tor browser can be installed on Windows, Linux, Android, and MacOS.
To keep your Tor browser and browsing safe, keep on updating them. Always move your browser to the latest version if available.
Final thoughts:
Search Engines on the dark web have been emerging in recent times.
Always ensure your anonymity is safe when you browse or use the hidden Wiki or the dark web.
Use a VPN or a premium VPN while using the dark web.
Don’t download any content or files from the dark web, Unless you trust the website.