Google is on top in search and all the other search engines are doing what they can to try to catch Google or at least get closer to them. Some of them ignore the fact that Google isn't just standing still. Google is always doing things to try to improve and to have a superior search engine.
Hakia has what they are calling the "first meaning-based search engine." They say it performs better than Google. Of course they aren't exactly impartial. They are in beta now and plan to launch fully operational later this year.
When you search with Hakia you are to enter a question, a phrase, or a sentence. Others have done this previously. Ask Jeeves is one that comes to mind right away. But Hakia says their search engine better understands what is being asked.
Hakia says they are using semantical search while Google uses text search. But there doesn't seem to be enough to show that Hakia really understands what is being asked.
Depending on what you are search for there are cases where Hakia gives better results than Google, others where they are about the same and others where Google gives better results.
In case you want to give Hakia a try to see if it is a good choice for your search purposes, here is a link to the Hakia search engine
hakia Search Engine Beta