PreSearch: A Community Driven Search Engine
Most of us practice some form of internet security, whether that means using a VPN or being generally cautious when downloading files. Odds are that if you’re reading this, you’re aware that your computer could be susceptible to viruses or malware if you refuse to take necessary precautions when using the internet. You’re probably also aware that private corporations like Amazon and Facebook track your internet activity to better serve you advertisements. How many of us have considered how our favorite search engine plays into this negation of our privacy? In 2021, a search engine is most people’s personal assistant, encyclopedia, and confidant. But does the search engine you use really have your best interests in mind? Google currently captures approximately 86% of total internet searches and in 2020 alone served $146.92 billion worth of advertisements to their users. Google has a resounding conflict of interest when tasked with providing users with unbiased search results due to their for-profit status. The order in which Google displays search results has a tremendous impact on how users experience the internet. When was the last time you clicked on page two of a search result page or even the fifth link on page one? This plays a big role in not only goods consumption on the internet but in real world politics. Bias search result rankings have been shown to change voter preference by upwards of 20%. This is a moral dilemma that no for-profit company should be faced with. PreSearch is here to change that.
PreSearch is a blockchain based search engine that allows its users to reclaim their data privacy and rewards users for searches with the $PRE token. PreSearch works similarly to a VPN but instead of hiding your internet activity from your Internet Service Provider, PreSearch hides your device details and user data from search directories like Google or Yahoo. This takes the burden of deciding what to do with user data off of for-profit companies. PreSearch is becoming increasingly decentralized with an increasingly expansive array of nodes. Currently there are upwards of 23,000 PreSearch mainnet nodes being run around the world with 10,000 nodes launched just in September of 2021.There are currently over 145 million $PRE tokens staked either through node or keyword staking. That is about $33 Million of $PRE at the current price as of November 4, 2021. The PreSearch community is active in developing and advancing the project as they stand to inherit PreSearch through the project’s inevitable transference of power to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). This DAO will be governed by the $PRE token. The belief in PreSearch’s growth can be demonstrated by the number of nodes running on PreSearch’s testnet which at the end of October 2021 totaled approximately 45,000. This amount of participation shows a dedication to PreSearch rarely seen among small blockchain projects.
Who is behind PreSearch?
PreSearch was founded in June of 2017. Colin Pape and Trey Grainger of PreSearch serve as CEO and CTO, respectively. Pape is one of the founders of PreSearch and has been a web developer since the early 2000’s. He is also a founder of ShopCity.com which is a company that empowers local shoppers to find small local businesses to patronize. Pape is on the board of trustees of Evolution, a non-profit dedicated to revolutionizing societal governance. This is an interesting concept that many blockchain projects and blockchain advocates are heavily invested in. Trey Grainger is a web development and programming veteran. Grainger is an expert in search engine development and artificial intelligence (AI) with an emphasis in statistical and data analysis. He is prolific in his academic research and has been involved in at least twelve research papers exploring new approaches to data science and development. Pape and Grainger make a stunning team and PreSearch’s speedy development proves they work well together. PreSearch is backed by Alpha Sigma Capital which is a very successful fund started by Enzo Villani.
What is behind PreSearch?
PreSearch is a self-sustaining economy of users, node validators, and keyword stakers. The users drive demand for node validators and create an incentive for keyword stakers while also earning reward for their searches. Node validators stake their $PRE tokens for the right to assist in increasing the speed and decentralization of user searches and in return receive $PRE as a reward. These two interactions can be found among all Proof of Stake blockchain projects and therefore are not unique. Any $PRE staked can be slashed or lost due to mischievous action by the staker. This discourages those with misaligned incentives and further secures the blockchain. The most interesting aspect of the PreSearch economy is Keyword staking. Keyword staking works like an open and transparent version of Google’s AdSense. Keyword staking on PreSearch is run through a transparent bid system. The Keyword staker can see exactly how much $PRE is staked on a specific keyword and either outbid or underbid depending on where they want their link to appear. Currently PreSearch is running a non-consumptive model of Keyword staking to drive growth and adoption of the project. This means that the staked $PRE associated with a keyword does not decrease when users interact with the link associated with that keyword. PreSearch plans on moving to a pay-per-click consumptive model further down the road with consumed $PRE going to a fund controlled by the PreSearch DAO. This staking of $PRE to run a keyword linked advertisement assures that there is financial incentive to adhere to the terms of service set by PreSearch and discourages malicious advertisements on PreSearch.
I’ve been using the PreSearch iOS application as my phone’s default browser for a couple of months now and can attest to its speed and functionality. I’ve passively earned a few $PRE tokens just through my daily searches. An account is needed to earn $PRE through searching, but is not required to use the product. While using PreSearch as my daily browser I’ve noticed little to no difference compared to Safari or Chrome. On my laptop I use the Brave browser with PreSearch as my search engine. The Brave browser is another blockchain project built using chromium which is the open-source code that Google uses for Chrome. This allows me to use chrome extensions while searching with PreSearch. The Brave $BAT token currently has a market cap of around $1.4 billion. In contrast, the market cap of PreSearch’s $PRE token is currently around $94 Million. At the beginning of August $PRE’s market cap was only $9 million. PreSearch is a rapidly growing project with exponentially increasing adoption. In the European Union all new Android phones come with PreSearch as a native option for default browsing. As data concerns rise and data laws change, we believe that PreSearch will see a meteoric rise. At the start of 2020 there were 1,200,000 registered users. By January 2021 that number had grown to 2,500,000. What will PreSearch look like in five years? We predict $PRE will far surpass $BAT’s market cap of $1.4 billion and land among the top projects settling in the double-digit billions.
Written by David Coryat, Crypto native and Analyst at Istari Capital LP.
This Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this report constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Istari or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. Please be advised that Istari Capital LP is invested in the project discussed in this article or in projects related to this article.
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