With AI increasingly dominating the internet, the Palo Alto-based search engine Kagi is revolutionizing how non-commercial, human-authored websites are accessed. Their new “Small Web” apps for iOS and Android bring a curated selection of these sites to mobile devices. According to Kagi, the “Small Web” encompasses personal blogs, webcomics, independent videos, and other content crafted by individuals.
These sites represent the foundations of the early internet, before it was largely overtaken by ad-supported business models and corporate-controlled platforms. Today, such sites are increasingly difficult to find amidst a web saturated with AI-generated content.
Kagi initially introduced the “Small Web” initiative in 2023 to highlight this kind of content in search results and through a dedicated website. In March, the company expanded these efforts with browser extensions, mobile apps, and options to filter results by category.
The Small Web website functions like a modern version of StumbleUpon, presenting random selected sites and allowing users to click “next” to explore further. This setup helps users discover web parts they might otherwise overlook.
With newly added categories, users can now focus their search on specific topics from over 30,000 “Small Web” sites indexed by Kagi.
These features are also available in Kagi’s updated mobile apps for iOS and Android as well as its browser extensions. Users can choose the type of content they want to see, such as videos, blogs, code repositories, or comics. The apps allow viewing recently accessed or popular sites in a distraction-free mode and enable users to save favorite sites and articles for later.
Despite efforts to make lesser-known parts of the indie web more accessible, some Kagi users feel the Small Web product could do more. This initiative is particularly relevant as AI-generated content often mimics human creation.
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On the Hacker News forum, one user noted that Kagi restricts its selection to sites with RSS feeds that have recent updates, excluding unique and experimental pages. Another user expressed frustration upon encountering a “Small Web” site that appeared to be AI-generated.
Nonetheless, the idea of a human-curated web, entirely authored by humans, presents a promising endeavor, especially if Kagi’s attempt to challenge Google with a premium search engine doesn’t succeed.
In the meantime, individuals can propose new sites for inclusion in the Small Web through its GitHub page.
