Clew
@Clew

clew is a web search engine trying to be different from the rest.

• We focus on writing by independent creators. There's no point in indexing Wikipedia; it has its own perfectly serviceable search bar.
• We are not ad-supported; currently, clew is a labor of love by Benjamin Hollon and donation-supported.
• Because our funding source is not dependent on the interests of for-profit businesses and corporations, our search rankings are unbiased and apply the same standards equally to all indexed domains.
• In addition, we incorporate variables that would not be in the interests of commercial search engines, such as whether we detect invasive ads or tracking on a site and how much bandwidth pages require to download, perfect for individuals who want to see whether a website will respect their privacy and data before opening it.

landing page mockup and placeholder site

Use of Funds

Funds received through this team will be used in the following order:

1. To cover server and domain name costs for the Clew search engine
2. To pay any associated fees with running and developing the service
3. To fund projects that are part of Clew
4. To support the other work and expenses of Benjamin Hollon, Clew's creator

Behind the Name

A lot of thought went into the name "Clew". A clew is a ball of thread or yarn; specifically, we envisioned the clew from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur which leads Theseus safely through the labyrinth. This is an excellent metaphor for the task of a search engine; our job is to guide you safely through the labyrinthian World Wide Web safely to your destination.

We've also incorporated other names from the Theseus myth into our naming; our web crawler, for example, is named after Ariadne, who gave Theseus the clew.