A small EU-based paid search engine added image search and URL rewrite rules this week, then used its changelog to start a surprisingly candid conversation about openness.
Uruky, which pitches itself as a privacy-focused alternative to Kagi, rolled out image search and user-configurable URL rewrites for subscribers. New users can try the service free for two hours by solving a proof-of-work captcha when topping up their account for the first time. The team disclosed it has crossed 100 monthly active accounts, a number they treat as a confidence signal that the business can absorb licensing risk. Until now, anyone wanting to inspect the source code had to sign an NDA; the team consulted lawyers and is leaning toward replacing that with PolyForm Shield, a source-available license that allows inspection but bars competitors from deploying the code. A final decision is roughly six months out, with code downloads planned for accounts at least 12 months old.
The licensing discussion is the more interesting thread here. Privacy-focused services ask users to trust claims they cannot verify, and the NDA route was quietly self-defeating: signing one requires identification, which undercuts the privacy pitch before a user even logs in. A source-available approach at least lets technically inclined subscribers check data-handling claims themselves, even if the license stops anyone from forking a competitor.
100 monthly active accounts is a proof of concept, not a business. Kagi itself has struggled to explain its economics to skeptics despite years of operation; Uruky is a few steps behind that conversation and a long way behind on scale.