New search engine boasting huge claims

Kizzume

Cuil

They're claiming that they have more indexed pages than Google, over 120 billion pages. They're touting to eventually be viable competition to Google--many of the key employees there WERE from Google and also from AltaVista.

I guess one of their main focuses is NOT tracking people's surfing habits. That's a good thing I guess.

The things I think are lame about this search engine in its current form are:

1. You can't change preferences to view more than 11 results per page. I'm sorry, but I like skimming a long page--I don't like having to click "next" 50 times so I can keep skimming.

2. There is no option to see cached versions of pages. I surf almost purely using cached versions--it's a better guarantee that the terms I search for will actually be there, they're highlighted for me, and it's much safer to view cached versions of webpages.

3. There is no image search option. I don't know about you, but I use the image search in Google almost as much as I do their regular web search.

Now, this doesn't mean that these things won't change in the future--if those things change, I'll consider it a really good search engine. Though, I must admit, I find it weird that they use a dark theme for only PART of the site--I'd sure love to see the results with a dark theme too.

Some people think the name is stupid, and to those who say that, consider this:

If we're going to judge by the name, Google pretty much has them all beat as far as stupid names--they may as well have went for names like Pooky or Pobble--things you might say to a baby in a high voice with an oddly proportioned smile. Did you Pooky that? Yep, did you pobble that? No, but did you google that? Yes, but did you happen to schukiewukums that?

At least AltaVista sounds like something. Yahoo is a little bit silly, but it doesn't sound like something you say to a baby. MSN is at least a blatant acronym, so is AOL. To me, the name Cuil looks and sounds way better than Google.

What did you think the very first time you heard the name "google"? I thought "what a joke".

It's like irritating commercials--you hate them, but you remember them so they've done their job.

What do you think of Cuil?

jq · Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Posts: 1089

IF Cuil gets anywhere close to competing with Google, you can be absolutely sure that they will be bought out immediately. Whether by Microsoft, who would love to compete with Google, or google themselves. It will happen. Business and tech conglomerates are very aware that the search engine is a billion dollar industry, and key players like Microsoft and Y ahoo would love to improve their current technology, while Google would love to continue to dominate.

I don't see Cuil EVER getting huge on its own for this reason. But if they are successful, I do see a buyout in their future.

As far as the name goes, its O-K, but it isn't NEARLY as infectious as the word "Google." Google is like a brain tickle to read or pronounce. Its name alone is indicative of their success.

Kizzume · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:23 pm Post subject:

I don't think it has the potential of getting as big as Google in the sense of how much ground Google has covered, but as far as search engines alone, I think it has some really good potential. I'm very pleased with it not tracking everywhere I'm going, and I think their interface is pleasant to look at. I am so very disappointed in how intrusive Google has become. It was right around when they started pushing their toolbar and Google Desktop Search that they really went too far.

I think however things go, another company will top Google as far as search engines and Google will venture more into the other areas as a result. Just a hunch.