Kagi brings its “micro-grid” of human-only Internet to mobile devices

As artificial intelligence takes over the Internet, Palo Alto-based search engine Kagi is bringing its handpicked collection of non-commercial, human-generated websites to mobile devices with new “web mini” apps for iOS and Android. The “microweb”, in Kaji’s definition, includes sites created by individuals, such as personal blogs, webcomics, independent videos, and more.

These are the kinds of characteristics that formed the basis of the early Web, before it was dominated by ad-supported business models and platforms controlled by large corporations. It’s also the kind of site that can be difficult to discover on today’s web, where much of the content is combined with, if not directly authored by, artificial intelligence.

The search startup debuted its idea for a “micro web” initiative in 2023, designed to promote this type of content in its search results and through a dedicated website. In March, the company announced an expansion of these efforts with browser extensions, mobile apps, and a way to filter results by category.

The mini-website is similar to a modern StumbleUpon in that it displays one randomly selected site, then lets you click the “Next” button to go to another site. Like StumbleUpon, the goal is to help users discover parts of the web they may have missed.

With the addition of categories, users can now limit discovery to only topics of interest from the more than 30,000 “microweb” sites in the Kagi index.

It’s also available in Kagi’s new mobile apps for iOS and Android and its browser extensions. Here, you can select the type of content you want to see, such as videos, blogs, code repositories, or comics. You can also view a list of recently viewed or popular sites, and read them in a distraction-free mode. Additionally, you can save your favorite sites and articles to come back to later.

While the initiative to make the less trafficked parts of the indie web more visible is a worthwhile one — especially at a time when AI-generated content masquerades as human creativity — some Kagi users complain that the little web product doesn’t go any further.

In the Hacker News discussion forum, someone pointed out that Kagi limits its selection to sites with RSS feeds that contain recent posts, ruling out the inclusion of unique, single-purpose websites or demo pages in Kagi’s collection. Another was frustrated when he came across a supposed “mini-web” that looked suspiciously like it might have been written using AI.

However, the concept of a human-curated content network that is also written by humans could be something worth building, especially if Kagi’s original concept of becoming an alternative to Google by offering a premium, paid search engine doesn’t pan out.

In the meantime, people can suggest new sites for the miniweb via its GitHub page.