For about one and a half year I have been using Presearch, an app that replaces your default search engine in your browser with a crypto-based alternative, called PRE, which is an ERC20 token on Ethereum. Presearch is open-source, transparent and powered by the community.
My referral link https://www.presearch.org/signup?rid=1414269
They also have mobile apps for iOS (via Testflight) and Android. https://presearch.org/apps
DSearch vs PRESearch
You can use Presearch to access over hundred different search engines and earn PRE. Each serach will add some PRE to your account and accumulate there. As soon as you got 1000 PRE, you can move it out of your wallet. You can earn even more PRE when you use Dsearch as your default, the own engine of Presearch that displays their own ads.
You can learn more about the differences in this article: Presearch vs. Dsearch.
All search results are delivered using the Bing API, that also search engines like DuckDuckGo use.
As of today, Monday the 22nd of February, the new Tokenomics 1.0 Engine goes live.
Previously you have earned 0.25 PRE each time when using Presearch and 0.5 PRE when using Dsearch as your default engine (up to 8 PRE per day). This changes today to a more dynamic token reward system, that intends to reward based on the quality and relevance of the search you did, in order to build a more sustainable ecosystem.
Staking PRE to Keywords
A really cool feature of PRE is to drive traffic to your websites by staking PRE to specific keywords and display your own ads on Presearch search results when people search for these keywords. You still own the PRE and you can always unstake them again but loose the keyword ad. Since Presearch has already a relatively large community in the millions, this could result in a cheap way to find more readers/customers for your own products.
Currently, there are no further costs associated with staking keywords (except needing PRE to stake, which you will get back whenever you unstake). This will change after June 2021, when the free staking ends and the first costs will be introduced.
Running a Presearch Node and earn PRE
To further decentralize the search engine, Presearch has recently started User Nodes, that you can run yourself. When you become such a Node operator, search requests will be routed through a Node Gateway Server, to anonymize the user by removing all linked tracking information from the request. Then, the gateway will select a node from the decentralized network based on various factors like speed and location among others. The node itself will then access search indexes, databases, APIs and other search engines.
The results are send back to the gateway, which will reward the node with PRE tokens. The gateway then packages the results and includes ads based on keyword staking and sends the package to the Presearch webserver, where it will be presented to the user, who also earns a PRE reward.
Tokenomics
The circulating supply of PRE tokens is 380 million and the max supply is 500 million. The current market cap sits at 29 million and had its all time in early January 2018 during the last crypto bull-run, with a 117 million market cap. A few weeks ago it saw its first large price action in a long time, as the current bull-run is in full swing and Presearch has delivered the user nodes and tokenomics engine.
There is also a decently sized liquidity pool on Uniswap, with about 650k USD of ETH-PRE currently provided, but I couldn't confirm that this is the real deal, so I will not link to it. I found it on Coinmarketcap.
Wallets
Since it is an ERC20 token, you can hold PRE in many wallets. Included are Exodus, Coinomi, MyEtherwallet, Ledger, Trezor and many more.
If you don't buy any PRE but earn it through search rewards or as a node operator, you must collect 1000 PRE before you can withdraw your balance to your own wallet. I suggest setting up a 2-way authentication for your Presearch account to keep your earned rewards a bit more secure until you are able to withdraw.
Concluding Thoughts
Since I am using Presearch now for such a long time, I can wholeheartedly say that it is fun to use, earn PRE tokens and flip the bird towards Google. With the recently added user nodes, it has really become a decentralized alternative to all the centralized search engines that spy on you and sell your data, while you get nothing out of it.
Honestly, I think services like Presearch are the future for searching the internet. I am sure it is still a long way to go for them, with many adjustments and opposition on their way. I do not count on the token to appreciate a lot in the near future although I would not be surprised if it does. We are in a bull-run year and money is flowing like crazy. Presearch is a much more complete product today, compared to when it hit its all-time high in 2018.
I will certainly hodl my hard easily earned PRE tokens and see what the future will hold for Presearch. I am also interested in providing a user node but I will have to read into that topic and learn more about the requirements first.
Finally, here is an interview from The State of Anarchy during Anarchapulco 2019 with the Presearch founder Colin Pape.
