Monday, July 28, 2008

A rival for Google?

Here's a new startup that's come into a market long dominated by Google.
Cuil claims to be a bigger, better, faster search engine than the pervasive Google. Time will tell, but at first glance, the new company just might be right. Or at least right-ish.
Google has long used an ultra double-secret algorithm for determining result priority. One of the biggest factors in that was how many other Web sites link to the site returned by a search. Cuil takes a different approach, relying more on content relevance. Other nifty features include tabbed searches so you don't lose your results, and an easy drill-down tool that helps narrow searches.
I've only been using Cuil for an hour or so now, but it seems good. I don't know if, as it claims, it really does index more sites than Google, but given the explanations of its search methodolofy it does seem plausible.
But will it unseat the giant? Without enormous marketing, it'll be hard-pressed to do so. After all, "google" has become recognized by some dictionaries as a legitimate verb. And I'd be wary of publicly talking about "cuiling" someone. It could be misunderstood in oh so many awkward ways.

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