Google Custom Search vs. Site Search 360

Highly manageable search solution with deeper customization options and intuitive UI.
Compare Site Search 360 to see which enterprise search approach best fits your needs.

Pencils and notes on the blackboard

Why choose Site Search 360 over Google Custom Search

While Google is the authority on all things search related, on-site search was never the company’s core offering. Among other differences, Site Search 360 is a purpose-built search as a service. It is significantly easier to deploy, customize, and manage. It’s also cheaper than Google’s ad-free options

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  • Require data engineering to build dashboards
  • Deeper analysis of search behavior requires integration and research on Google Analytics
  • No insight into 0 result queries or into results performance
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  • Intuitive dashboard and proactive alerts
  • Surface insights about your users’ behavior trends and preferences
  • Identify opportunities to optimize search, discovery, and website content
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  • Recrawl and index every 4 days to 4 weeks
  • Crawl, index, and search only websites
  • No option to identify indexing errors within the tool
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  • Control the frequency of re-crawls and re-indexing
  • Crawl, index and search any source (website, PDFs, docs, videos, product feed, JS)
  • Track and identify indexing errors
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  • No dedicated support
  • Documentation and community forum are the only way to debug issues
  • No guidance on best practices or opportunities to improve performance
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  • Guided onboarding process, 3 minutes to set up
  • Dedicated support team available on-demand
  • Proactive guidance on best practices and issues
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  • Promoting and tweaking result rankings is highly limited without custom development
  • Design customization is limited without coding
  • Each change requires code updates to website
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  • Intuitive rule engine allows non-technical users to control result rankings and weight values
  • Low to no-code design wizard for customizing UI appearance and UX
  • Crawl and index any data source (PDF, doc, etc.)
  • Updates are immediately applied to your search
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  • Great for websites that do not require branding or deep control of their onsite search experience
  • Plans with no 3rd party ads from $5 / 1,000 queries
  • Advanced customization only via a JSON API
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  • No Ads. Low average cost per query
  • Easily customize design and search logic
  • Crawl and index any data source (PDF, doc, etc.)
  • Use AI to optimize results and filters

Full feature comparison

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Instant crawling out of the box
Depending on how the search is integrated on your site, every time you add, edit, or remove pages or documents from your site, changes are instantly reflected in your search results.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Typo tolerance (spell check)
Allow users to make mistakes while typing and still find the records they're looking for.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Custom dictionary/Synonym sets
Add unlimited custom synonyms and hypernyms on top of our standard dictionary to optimize your search results for various for your specific needs. For example, shades can be a synonym for sunglasses and in another case it can a synonym for blinds.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Free plan
Benefit from a basic search functionality at no cost.
No, paid or with adsBlue Check icon
No-code result manager: boost, bury, or hide results
Easily curate search results shown for specific queries: re-order and pin the best items, hide unwanted results, inject custom banners and promotions in a no-code drag-and-drop result manager interface.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Document indexing (PDF, DOC, PPT, XLS, etc.)
Let the crawler pick up PDF files and other documents from your site or add a list of URLs to your search index, so visitors can find your best content easily. 15Mb limit per file.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
FAQ indexing
Make individual questions and answers from your FAQ page easily accessible from your main search box. Every block becomes a separate search result and when the user clicks on it, the exact Q&A excerpt is highlighted on the page.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
YouTube indexing
Video content is king! Let your followers look through your YouTube videos directly from a search box on your site. Filter videos by playlist, age, duration, or keywords. A thumbnail with a play button is automatically generated and shown in the search snippet.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Real-time indexing and syncing
Instant indexing of the webpages, products (SKUs), documents, and videos that should be searchable.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Index and search data from multiple sources
Create a sitemap that contains URLs from all the sites you want to index or submit multiple sitemaps; the crawler picks up the links that are present in your sitemap(s).
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Autocomplete and search suggestions
Quick and configurable as-you-type search suggestions populated based on your most popular searches and best-matching products.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
AI optimization
Our machine-learning algorithms will analyze searcher behavior. Using the data they collect, they will automatically optimize your search results for relevance and help you reach defined goals. Check your Search Insights reports to monitor search progress over time.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Actionable search analytics and insights
An in-app analytics dashboard gives you insight into what your customers are truly interested in and whether they're able to find it in your website/store.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Customize no results
The no results page appears when a user performs a query that has no results. Customize it with results mapping or a personalized message to avoid your customers bouncing off your website or store.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Semantic, ontology-based search
The ontology is multidimensional and infinitely adaptable. It contains all relations, logical connections, and metadata – every little detail relevant to the product world to enrich your search.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Smart 404 feature
An incomprehensible 404 page might force many of your visitors to leave your website and choose a competitor instead. The Smart 404 feature replaces 404 pages with one that provides relevant search suggestions based on the URL content to make sure that your visitors always find what they are looking for.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Monthly insights digest
You receive a short analytics summary on a monthly basis.
Yes but with Search Console InsightsBlue Check icon
Search success tracking
Track and gain actionable insights into your site search click-through, abandon, and 0-result query rates, as well as your overall score. Monitor conversions and sales generated from search to optimize your search results and merchandizing strategy.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Dedicated support team
Get answers to your questions by phoning the VIP support line or emailing the dedicated support staff, as well as reaching out to community members via an online developer chat.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Search password-protected content
All your content is searchable, even password-protected areas. Site Search 360 supports username/password and cookie-based authentication.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Merchandizing: custom banners, seasonal offers, etc.
Easily curate search results shown for specific queries: re-order and pin the best items, hide unwanted results, inject custom banners and promotions in a no-code drag-and-drop Result Manager interface.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon

Recent awards and recognition

trust pilot top ratings for site search 360
Site Search 360 is a leader in Enterprise Search Software on G2

Full feature comparison

googleAlt
ss360Alt
Instant crawling out of the box
Depending on how the search is integrated on your site, every time you add, edit, or remove pages or documents from your site, changes are instantly reflected in your search results.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Typo tolerance (spell check)
Allow users to make mistakes while typing and still find the records they're looking for.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Custom dictionary/Synonym sets
Add unlimited custom synonyms and hypernyms on top of our standard dictionary to optimize your search results for various for your specific needs. For example, shades can be a synonym for sunglasses and in another case it can a synonym for blinds.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Free plan
Benefit from a basic search functionality at no cost.
No, paid or with adsBlue Check icon
No-code result manager: boost, bury, or hide results
Easily curate search results shown for specific queries: re-order and pin the best items, hide unwanted results, inject custom banners and promotions in a no-code drag-and-drop result manager interface.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Document indexing (PDF, DOC, PPT, XLS, etc.)
Let the crawler pick up PDF files and other documents from your site or add a list of URLs to your search index, so visitors can find your best content easily. 15Mb limit per file.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
FAQ indexing
Make individual questions and answers from your FAQ page easily accessible from your main search box. Every block becomes a separate search result and when the user clicks on it, the exact Q&A excerpt is highlighted on the page.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
YouTube indexing
Video content is king! Let your followers look through your YouTube videos directly from a search box on your site. Filter videos by playlist, age, duration, or keywords. A thumbnail with a play button is automatically generated and shown in the search snippet.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
Real-time indexing and syncing
Instant indexing of the webpages, products (SKUs), documents, and videos that should be searchable.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Index and search data from multiple sources
Create a sitemap that contains URLs from all the sites you want to index or submit multiple sitemaps; the crawler picks up the links that are present in your sitemap(s).
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Autocomplete and search suggestions
Quick and configurable as-you-type search suggestions populated based on your most popular searches and best-matching products.
Blue Check iconBlue Check icon
AI optimization
Our machine-learning algorithms will analyze searcher behavior. Using the data they collect, they will automatically optimize your search results for relevance and help you reach defined goals. Check your Search Insights reports to monitor search progress over time.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Actionable search analytics and insights
An in-app analytics dashboard gives you insight into what your customers are truly interested in and whether they're able to find it in your website/store.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Customize no results
The no results page appears when a user performs a query that has no results. Customize it with results mapping or a personalized message to avoid your customers bouncing off your website or store.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Semantic, ontology-based search
The ontology is multidimensional and infinitely adaptable. It contains all relations, logical connections, and metadata – every little detail relevant to the product world to enrich your search.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Smart 404 feature
An incomprehensible 404 page might force many of your visitors to leave your website and choose a competitor instead. The Smart 404 feature replaces 404 pages with one that provides relevant search suggestions based on the URL content to make sure that your visitors always find what they are looking for.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Monthly insights digest
You receive a short analytics summary on a monthly basis.
Yes but with Search Console InsightsBlue Check icon
Search success tracking
Track and gain actionable insights into your site search click-through, abandon, and 0-result query rates, as well as your overall score. Monitor conversions and sales generated from search to optimize your search results and merchandizing strategy.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Dedicated support team
Get answers to your questions by phoning the VIP support line or emailing the dedicated support staff, as well as reaching out to community members via an online developer chat.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Search password-protected content
All your content is searchable, even password-protected areas. Site Search 360 supports username/password and cookie-based authentication.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon
Merchandizing: custom banners, seasonal offers, etc.
Easily curate search results shown for specific queries: re-order and pin the best items, hide unwanted results, inject custom banners and promotions in a no-code drag-and-drop Result Manager interface.
Red Cross iconBlue Check icon

Recent awards and recognition

trust pilot top ratings for site search 360
Site Search 360 is a leader in Enterprise Search Software on G2

Try Site Search 360 for free

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