The “small web” is bigger than you might think
kevinboone.me
March 16, 2026
5 min read
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Summary
The "small web" refers to initiatives aimed at reclaiming parts of the Internet for non-commercial, personal use, utilizing ordinary web browsers and servers for private sites without advertising and corporate tracking. The Gemini protocol, which operates on different protocols and software than the traditional web, has been adopted for this purpose.
Key Takeaways
- The "small web" refers to non-commercial, personal websites that use ordinary web browsers and servers, free of advertising and corporate tracking.
- The Kagi search engine's small web initiative lists approximately 32,000 sites, primarily private sites and blogs that publish update feeds.
- A program was developed to analyze the frequency of updates from these sites, resulting in a refined list of about 25,000 active sites suitable for feed aggregation.
- The Gemini protocol, which supports a limited number of sites (around 6,000 capsules), is designed to be resistant to commercial exploitation.
Coverage & discussions
Hacker News · kevinboone.me
Community discussions
Community Sentiment
Concerns
- Rejecting encryption in the 'small web' could severely limit its commercial potential, as it undermines secure transactions and private information exchange.
