Torrent’Em, a Flashy BitTorrent Search Engine
Written by Ernesto on January 25, 2008Torrent’Em is a unique BitTorrent meta-search engine because it is coded entirely in Flash, something i’ve never seen before. The site indexes several public BitTorrent sites and the search results are presented in a clean and flashy way.
Torrent’Em provides pretty much everything you expect from a meta-search engine. All the result columns are sortable, which is certainly a feature that every BitTorrent site should have. It also gives suggestions if you misspell a word.
The site is currently indexing 13 of the most popular BitTorrent sites – mininova.org, thepiratebay.org, mybittorrent.com, fenopy.com, newtorrents.info, seedpeer.com, btmon.com, torrentreactor.com, torrentportal.com, bitTorrent.am, extratorrent.com, monova.org and sumotorrent.com. More sites will be added to the list soon, says Carlos, the developer of Torrent’Em.
Torrent’Em has no ads at the moment, and the user interface looks pretty good. By default the search results are sorted by the number of seeds and peers, which is informative. More detailed information, and direct links to the source, are available when you click on one of the results form the list. “The idea is to have a fast, clean, easy to use website” Carlos told TorrentFreak.
There are also some downsides of course. Links open in a pop-up at the moment, which I find extremely annoying. The site also appears to be a bit slow, but that is mostly because of the “flashy” loading effects. Carlos told TorrentFreak that he’s working on a solution for these, and other problems, he said: “I am working on a settings panel where you can choose how to open the torrent link (self, or blank). Also, in the same panel you will be able to choose the type of animation you want and how fast you want it to be.”
Perhaps there’s even a more serious concern here, not specifically related to this meta-search engine, but to all of them. It seems that more and more sites are moving away from hosting .torrent files, let alone operate a BitTorrent tracker. Most torrents come from 2 or 3 of the bigger sites, and almost 75% of all .torrent files are tracked by The Pirate Bay.
BitTorrent meta-search engines can be really useful, but they are useless if all the sites they index host the same .torrent files. A bit more diversity might be a good idea, especially in the long term.
Previously: Virus Threatened to Kill File-Sharers, Creator Arrested for Copyright Infringement
Next: Another Year, Another Pile of Misleading Statistics From the Recording Industry
46 Responses
yeah, because flash it so great for getting things done
neat.
Nice. :D
an attractive site, with the refining that Carlos is working on it will be a fresh alternative!
But its very true about the lack of diversity – for all the innovative designing, without other torrent sites we will see the same torrents.. and the same fakes..
I actually agree with you Ernesto… We need more trackers, and less searches. I think it’s high time the private tracker bunch get over themselves, and switch over to a public system. It’s been shown that when it comes to private VS public trackers, neither are safe. If the suits want you, they’ll get you.
Addendum:
Forgot to mention that, with all that said, Torrent’Em is a very nice looking site.
Ah, Chinchilla the SEO slut strikes again.
quite flashY! i like it
[quote comment="272148"]I actually agree with you Ernesto… We need more trackers, and less searches. I think it’s high time the private tracker bunch get over themselves, and switch over to a public system. It’s been shown that when it comes to private VS public trackers, neither are safe. If the suits want you, they’ll get you.[/quote]
the main reason for private trackers is speed and few fakes not safety…
[quote comment="272170"][quote comment="272148"]I actually agree with you Ernesto… We need more trackers, and less searches. I think it’s high time the private tracker bunch get over themselves, and switch over to a public system. It’s been shown that when it comes to private VS public trackers, neither are safe. If the suits want you, they’ll get you.[/quote]
the main reason for private trackers is speed and few fakes not safety…[/quote]
That’s true, but when it comes to availability, I still find a whole lot on public sites. That’s where people share because they want to, not because they have to.
public trackers are only good for the casual torrenter and i only use them if i can’t find the file elsewhere. public torrent sites don’t encourage people to share. which is why i always hit and run on tpb, cos i get no benefit from sharing.
*cough*bullshit*cough*
Fuck elitist ‘private’ trackers.
I totally agree with all n3l87 has to say on the matter (#5 & #10)
kthxbai
It doesn’t work with Opera.. :(
a/s/l ~ That just basically means you’re a selfish user. Public trackers are used much more then simply by the ‘casual user’. Since the demise of OiNK the private trackers that have sprung up in it’s place have been, well not to put too finer point on it, fucking shit. Whereas there are still quite a few decent public sites around.
They could have done this more SEO friendly more Cleaner and non flash with javascript. But i like it
I’m tired of these many lame meta-search engines, and sites that just indexes from other sites.
They don’t host their own tracker, or torrents, is mostly filled with ads.
many of these sites is probably set up to earn some money.
Nice stuff.
TORRENTFREAK! PLEASE MAKE THE NEXT TAB SELECT THE “RESPOND” BUTTON. Highly annoying.
See? Now i did it again…. Right up all the way to the “find” field, and then enter.
Tested it against sites like btjunkie & isohunt, they returned many more matches! He musts not index the sites well.
Instead of whining about how private trackers should “get over themselves”, why not start your own tracker?
At least we’re doing something. It’s not like we have 75% of private torrents tracked by a single site.
Is it a good idea to host stuff like this in the USA?
Packet to “Media Temple, Inc, Bittorrent fakes, avla2007.ca…” ( 64.13.233.5 ) blocked. [protocol: TCP - src: 1264 / dst: 80]
flash = proprietary = closed = unsupported on linux (64bit) = crap.
A quite nice site, but the loading could really get a little speed boost… might be my main torrent search machine now, as most others I know only index 1-4 sites at once… and not really popular ones either…
Well, the argument about vanishing torrent sites and trackers is of course bad…
I really hope this will change back to “for every one taken down, two new ones will rise”
This is basically torrentz, or youtorrent made into a flash website. It’s also slower.
[quote comment="272181"]i always hit and run on tpb, cos i get no benefit from sharing.[/quote]
Then you’re just the sort of leeching fuckwit #10 is talking about. I agree that public tracker seeds share becuase they want to, not because they have to, That makes them better p2p’ers than those who do it for no other reason than showing off, which is about the only reason losers migrate to private sites. If they realy wanted faster, they’d get a usenet account, and if they cant avoid fakes, then they are retards and should give up on p2p. Showing everyone you’re a ratio whore basicaly lets everyone know what a dickhead you are, while the real filesharers just stfu and get on with it.
[quote comment="272181"]public trackers are only good for the casual torrenter and i only use them if i can’t find the file elsewhere. public torrent sites don’t encourage people to share. which is why i always hit and run on tpb, cos i get no benefit from sharing.[/quote]
Its people like you that give file sharing a bad name. I really could not care less about some lame ass ratio score displayed on your profile. As long as your giving back however much you took, then you are doing the right thing. You balantly display your ignorance’s towards file sharing. Get over and fuck yourself. :)
THIS SITES SEARCH RESULTS ARE IDENTICAL TO TORRENTZ.COM
Completely uses torrentz.com for all data. Not to impressive by my standards.
eh wont ever be using this although it looks nice.
private trackers are way way better than public
i have received so many fake/virus/corrupt/ or just plain screwed files on public sites
i never have once on private.
plus the speeds are better
i love how all these kids complain about private sites but i bet if they received an invite theyd change sides right away
I have access to as many private sites as you, and probably more (and ones that have now become defunct). You won’t ever notice me, because I only use them to get things I can’t find on public trackers. And I only seed until the ratio is enough so I won’t be “banned” (1.0 is enough generally).
I do this, because that is their directive. That’s how they run. I’m not complaining or whining about it, because I’m also a webmaster, and I know the rules are the rules.
What I’m saying is that making everything that is hard to find only accessible to a FEW is AGAINST my philosophy, and the reason I “pirate”. I believe, as Brokep does from TPB, that freedom of information and ideas is of the utmost importance. Hiding things behind closed doors is the exact opposite of that, and very much like what the industry is doing now, nix the payment. That is why on Public trackers, I share as much as I can.
After all, we’re all in this together, aren’t we? And if you’re in it for other reasons, then you just won’t ever understand my argument, so don’t try to rebut me.
Why do I not run a tracker myself? Because of several reasons, most of them personal so it’s none of your business. But major ones are: Funds and Lack of good ISPs.
As for the fakes/viruses/blahblahblah “issue” … I’ve never, not ONCE, repeat again, NEVER got anything of the sort from ANYWHERE. Why? Because I use logic. Something a lot of you “l33t” private people should look into. If something is either too good to be true, or suspicious looking, it most likely is. This is why most pub trackers HAVE COMMENT SECTIONS. Do your research! Stop being lazy!
And finally, my last thoughts. I’ve been “pirating” for over 9 years, and I’ve seen a lot of things change, especially availability and user friendliness. This is just how things evolve. If you don’t like that “newbs” have access now, then tough cookies for you. I’ve seen one truth though, throughout the years, and that is: Small communities that shut their doors to new comers ALWAYS ALWAYS do _not_ last. It is through the will of the Public community that sites like Mininova last for 3 YEARS and beyond.
More public trackers = Unstoppable Hydra
Get the concept?
Public trackers are great for their purposes but to say private trackers go against file sharing philosophy is just plain weird. The fact that they have a user limit is not because they want to screw people over that are not on the site but because its a highly moderated system which thrives on rules and order. Now I think we all agree that rules and order are easier to maintain in a small community.
Public or private, its all good.
[quote comment="272464"]I’ve seen one truth though, throughout the years, and that is: Small communities that shut their doors to new comers ALWAYS ALWAYS do _not_ last. It is through the will of the Public community that sites like Mininova last for 3 YEARS and beyond.[/quote]
Mininova is just short of 3 months older than my site. You might want your “truth” checking, it appears to be broken.
As for the reasons specified as to why you wont open your own tracker, do you think you have a right to demand that others pour in unlimited resources to host a public tracker that does not dissapear under heavy loads while not investing a penny yourself? If it’s none of our business why you don’t run a tracker then it’s none of your business what sort of trackers we run.
The reason private trackers are so popular to run is because you can match the number of peers to your hardware, and not the other way around. That is how we can afford to run the things. If you’re waiting for someone with a DC the size of TPBs to come along and offer you an alternative, you’ll be waiting a long time.
BTW, public trackers are not the only hydra. They’re not much of a hydra at all. If someone took out TPB, how many new sites would pop up?
When someone takes out a private tracker, we actually do see at least 4-5 new ones replacing it.
Without the regrowing of heads, it’s less of a hydra and more of a cerberus.
Get the concept?
n3187, what is your site?
Both public and private trackers are necessary, but I do dislike the private elitism some people have. a/s/l in particular makes me mad with rage. I always make a point of seeding anything I get off a public tracker to at least 2.0
The main reason I use private trackers is quality. If I want a proper V0 lame rip of something, guaranteed to not be a transcode the best place to go is unfortunately a private site.
Ideologically I prefer public sites, but right now they can’t always provide what I’m looking for. I’m hoping there will be some way to reconcile this in the future.
i use both public and private sites, and both have benefits and cons. I dont understand how a person can hate on a community based system for being vulnerable to fakers and idiots, whilst they hoard their precious dvdscreeners like some kind of Gollum… Of course it depends on how anti-social your perspectives are i guess.. but to me.. somehow Peer2Peer doesnt seem the right term for what they do..
Anyway, nice looking site, once its been tweaked and more sites are added to the indexing then it should be pretty decent… not as good as isohunt though :P
oh, and a/s/l your an utter knob. All this proprivate fags slagging of public sites for hitnrunners and theyre the people who HnR themselves.
As for slagging of TPB, that just lowers any value your words had from none to even less..
Brokep has done more for the community than selfish little brats like you ever have
[quote comment="272658"]n3187, what is your site?[/quote]
Non-torrent / warez related. I’m an indie map developer for a game.
[quote comment="272813"]As for slagging of TPB, that just lowers any value your words had from none to even less..
Brokep has done more for the community than selfish little brats like you ever have[/quote]
So very true. Pretty much you are throwing rocks at your glass house, if you are hating on TPB. That’s just stupid. It’s like saying, “I don’t like losing my freedoms, but I love George Bush”. GG
And there are more public sites then you are obviously aware of.
You really think that private sites are “full of them selves”?
Private sites are private because they can only allow so many people before they are crossing over a cost ratio.Bandwidth all that isnt free and the trackers to maintain 10,000 dont run on your p3 in your basement.
It is a small community in which most people are friends and know either other either irl or online.It isnt a “im better then you” type of thing.It isnt a security option either.It is simply the cost and community that make them special.Look at TPB,even with there make shift forums,there is no active community(considering there are allmost 2.5 million registered users(who knows how many just browse and leech) where as you may have 10,000 users in a private site and at any given day there are 5,000 users active interacting with each other in forums,irc,games,radio, etc,its more for a community feel vs uploading for the general masses and then leaving to go fap to some porn you just got.
All your egotistical philisiphys need not apply here.Private sites are people who are giving there money to the site for both maintence fees, and access to data in which to put on the site.Versues a public site with someone who is not exsprienced with say encoding and puts up a 1gb 320×240 avi file with the audio desynced…
Get my drift….
It looks good, but for me it has one great disadvantage over Youtorrent: You can’t put the search query into the URL, this fact makes it impossible to use it with tools like quicksilver or custom searchbars in various browsers. So they should add such a feature.
tHIS SITE IS REALLY COOL and it will good competition for torrentz.com
Very nice, the seed/leech figures could be separated into two columns and the torrent comments from various sites be crawled and merged into this one.
2 cents.
HEY DICKWEED
Torrentem steals Torrentz.com’s data.
yeah.. torrentz will ban their servers soon and torrentem will be done
Because this is Flash I can’t add it to my Firefox search box.
It’s gotta be said that the majority of people on private sites are elitist. They arent as friendly as those on public sites and very often lack a sense of humour and are less than welcoming. It seems to me that they are the computer nerd the stereotype was based on.
Hey thebox.bz stick your membership where the sun dont shine ya bunch of toffee-nosed bastards!!!
Nice site BTW, goodluck with it man.
I would suggest http://www.multitorrent.org
is a very nice meta search engine
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