> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://tools.osintnewsletter.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://tools.osintnewsletter.com/osint-tools/excite-web-search.md).
# Excite Web Search
Tool Description : A general-purpose internet search service to search for publicly available webpages and online information using keywords, names, organisations, events and other search terms.
| **Excite Web Search** | **Quick Overview** |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| URL | |
| What it does | Searches the web and returns links to publicly available online sources relevant to a user's search query. |
| How to use it | Enter keywords, names, organisations, events or phrases into the search box and review the returned results. |
| Cost | Free. |
| Account required | No for ordinary web searching. |
| Cookies | May use cookies for website functionality, analytics, advertising and session management. None noted during our site session. |
| Ownership | Excite is operated through Ask Media Group/Ask Applications, with web-search services provided by System1. |
| Use in Reporting | Web discovery, locating publicly available sources, and generating investigative leads. |
### What does Excite Web Search do?
Excite Web Search allows you to search the open web using keywords and retrieve potentially relevant webpages. It can help locate news articles, reports, company websites, government pages, academic material, blogs and other publicly accessible sources.
**The lowdown:** It’s a free web-search that can be used for discovery and lead generation.
### How to Use:
**1. Enter a keyword, person's name, organisation, company, event or other investigative search term into the search bar.**
**2. Review the returned search results and identify potentially relevant webpages, news reports, documents or other sources. You can also use the available Web, Images, News and Video search options.**
**3. Open and evaluate the original sources. Record relevant URLs and dates and independently verify important information using primary or authoritative sources before relying on it in reporting.**
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### Cost
* [x] Free
* [ ] Partially Free
* [ ] Paid
## Data Processing
### Account Required:
* [ ] Yes
* [x] No
No account is required for ordinary web searching. Some linked services may have separate account requirements.
### Cookies:
The site may use cookies for website functionality, analytics, advertising and session management. None were noted during our site session on 26 August 2026.
### Use in Reporting
Excite can be used to:
* Discover publicly available webpages relevant to an investigation.
* Locate news articles, reports, organisations and other online sources.
* Search for information about people, companies, organisations and events.
* Identify potential primary sources for further investigation.
* Find alternative sources when information is difficult to locate through another search engine.
* Locate images, videos and other publicly available material.
* Generate investigative leads for subsequent verification.
* Cross-reference information discovered through other OSINT tools.
* Identify historical or less prominent webpages that may not immediately appear through other discovery methods.
As an example use case, if you were researching a company, you could search the company’s name together with terms such as ‘lawsuit’, ‘contract’, ‘investigation’, ‘sanctions’, or ‘annual report’ to identify potential relevant sources.
| **Capabilities** | **Limitations** |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Searches publicly available information across the web. | Search results are not necessarily comprehensive. |
| Useful for discovering investigative leads. | Search rankings can change over time. |
| Can search names, organisations, phrases, and keywords. | A search result does not establish that the underlying information is accurate. |
| Can identify potentially relevant reports, articles, and documents. | Some sources may be inaccessible, removed or behind paywalls. |
| Doesn’t require an account for basic searching. | Important information requires independent verification. |
### Summary
Excite Web Search is a general web-search tool that is most useful during the discovery and collection stages of an OSINT investigation.
It can help locate potentially relevant sources and generate leads, but information found through search results should be traced back to the original source and independently verified before being relied upon in reporting.
### Ownership
The Excite site is operated by Ask Media Group LLC on behalf of Ask Applications, Inc. Excite's web-search service is provided by System1 LLC.
### Ethical Considerations
* Do not assume search results are accurate simply because they appear prominently.
* Take care when searching for or reporting information about private individuals.
* Treat allegations found in search results as unverified until corroborated.
* Preserve relevant source material where appropriate, as webpages and search results can subsequently change or disappear.
### Related Tools:
* Google search
* [DuckDuckGo](/osint-tools/duckduckgo.md)
* Yandex
* [Wayback Machine](/osint-tools/wayback-machine.md)
#### Sources