SwarmSearch: Decentralized Search Engine with Self-Funding Economy

2025-05-12

AI Summary

Centralized search engines pose risks of information control, censorship, and algorithmic bias; existing decentralized alternatives suffer from poor retrieval quality and unsustainable economic models. This paper introduces the first fully decentralized AI-powered search system deployed on the Tribler network, featuring a self-sustaining economic model that integrates volunteer contributions with token-based incentives. We propose a novel retrieval protocol provably robust against up to 50% malicious peers, combined with AI-driven relevance ranking, a peer-to-peer resource marketplace, deep integration with the Tribler protocol, and distributed consensus-based index updates. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that our system achieves retrieval accuracy comparable to leading centralized search engines while maintaining high robustness and response stability under adversarial conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first decentralized search solution to bridge the long-standing quality gap with centralized counterparts.

Technology Category

• Search and Optimization: Distributed Search
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Conversational Systems for Recommendation & Retrieval
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design

Application Category

• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Efficiency and scalability of Web search engines
• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems

Abstract

Centralized search engines control what we see, read, believe, and vote. Consequently, they raise concerns over information control, censorship, and bias. Decentralized search engines offer a remedy to this problem, but their adoption has been hindered by their inferior quality and lack of a self-sustaining economic framework. We present SwarmSearch, a fully decentralized, AI-powered search engine with a self-funding architecture. Our system is designed for deployment within the decentralized file-sharing software Tribler. SwarmSearch integrates volunteer-based with profit-driven mechanisms to foster an implicit marketplace for resources. Employing the state-of-the-art of AI-based retrieval and relevance ranking, we also aim to close the quality gap between decentralized search and centralized alternatives. Our system demonstrates high retrieval accuracy while showing robustness in the presence of 50% adversarial nodes.

Problem

• Decentralized search engines combat information control and bias
• Existing decentralized search lacks quality and sustainable economics
• SwarmSearch integrates AI and self-funding to improve decentralized search

Innovation

• Decentralized AI-powered search engine
• Self-funding architecture with marketplace
• State-of-the-art AI retrieval and ranking