New search engine Neeva has launched in Australia to rival Google by giving web users honest search results with no tracking, and no advertisements or affiliate links. Australian users also have access to NeevaAI, which harnesses the power of AI to deliver an experience that combines the best of ChatGPT with the authority and timeliness of search.
What is the mission behind Neeva?
Founded by Sridhar Ramaswamy (ex-SVP of Ads Google) and Vivek Raghunathan (ex-VP of Monetisation at YouTube), Neeva’s goal is to deliver the best results as quickly as possible.
Commenting on the launch, Neeva’s Chief Executive Officer Sridhar Ramaswamy said: “Neeva is a user-first platform focused on private, transparent searches versus a search engine serving advertisers. The internet should be your private corner of the web instead of a barrage of ads, Search Engine Optimization spam and irrelevant information.”
“We’re reinventing search by leveraging the most cutting edge AI, giving users control over sources; providing accurate and transparent results as well as private and customised experiences without the influence of corporate bias, tracked around the web.”
“Google has dominated the search engine market, maintaining over 90% market share. Neeva will challenge this supremacy by creating a better search and browse experience.”
“Users should expect answers from their queries, not the ads or information that one company decides they should see online. The ad-supported internet has created misaligned incentives that have made Big Tech monopolies and advertisers richer while exploiting the privacy and personal data of users. It’s time for a new approach that puts people first.”
What is the market offering of Neeva?
NeevaAI provides a synthesised single answer with linked sources pulled together from the most relevant sites for a query allowing users to determine the authenticity and reliability of cited sources. NeevaAI offers information by crawling hundreds of millions of pages a day and serving from its index of billions of pages. By combining AI with Neeva’s in-house search stack that eschews ads and advertisers, results are fast, bias-free and relevant.
Neeva offers a freemium model with a free basic service as well as a premium subscription that includes additional features such as a VPN and password manager. In Australia, the premium subscription costs AUD $7.99 per month or AUD $69.99 per year.
Neeva operates its own search stack drawing from an index of billions of web pages and enables users to connect apps like email, Dropbox, Slack, Figma and others, making it easy to search across the most important documents while maintaining strict privacy controls. Neeva is growing fast, gaining over 2 million users since launching in the US in 2021.
Investors in the project include Sequoia Capital, Greylock Ventures, Inovia Capital, and Neythri Futures Fund. The company has raised over US$80 million from its investors.
