Sovereignty

Slick includes customization features that let users control how search behaves. The two main ones are custom bangs and custom ranking.

These features give users control over how queries are routed and how results are ordered.

Custom Bangs

Custom bangs let users create their own shortcuts for search queries.

Unlike DuckDuckGo bangs, which are fixed and predefined, Slick lets users define them freely.

It is accessible through the settings gear icon on the top right (home page) or in the search bar (search page). You can add, edit, or remove custom bangs whenever needed.

Slick bangs are completely private. Users are not profiled based on them, and everything is stored locally in the browser.

Custom Ranking

Slick uses a multi-stage ranking system rather than a single scoring function.

On top of the default behaviour, users can influence how results are ordered. They can upvote or downvote domains to make them appear more or less often in results. Results can also be pinned to the top for specific queries or blocked entirely from appearing.

Custom ranking can be applied directly from each result using the tag icon next to it. Ranking actions can be managed later from settings.

Comparison to Other Search Engines

DuckDuckGo provides bangs as a fixed system, but does not allow users to define their own.

Kagi offers more advanced ranking customization, but it is part of a paid system.

Slick includes both custom bangs and ranking controls as part of a free search engine with user-level configurability built in.

Try it here at Slick