Move over Google!

There's a new search engine in town.

I started using the Internet before there was a web. I started with simple Gopher, WAIS, Archie and Veronica sites. Then came Yahoo and the Lynx text based browser. When the Web hit Yahoo was king. Then I moved to AltaVista for search. Google has been my choice for several years now with the occasional foray onto other engiens for specific purposes.

Now comes Cuil http://www.cuil.com/

So far I like the layout but we'll see if they can last. The one thing they do have over Google is much better privacy practices.

"Logs We do not keep logs of our users' search activity."

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/search/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209602251

http://gizmodo.com/5029838/ex+googlers-build-cuil-search-engine-say-its-bigger-than-google

ehhh , i like the google format better , espescially the image links

Interesting layout and sounds like a new attempt at indexing content to make them more meaningful. Unfortunately in my test searches I got repeated

No results because of high load...

Due to excessive load, our servers didn't return results. Please try your search again.

Click to expand...

No matter how good they are if they have traffic issues, I won't use them often. I did add cuil to the list of engines in my search bar on firefox though. Thanks.

bitslammer said:

The one thing they do have over Google is much better privacy practices.

Click to expand...

In that regard, www.scroogle.org may be worth a look. They use the google engine but scrape your identity off the search.

Do a search for "LF5XT" on both Google and Cuil, and see the results you get.

Cuil has a long way to go before it is a threat to Google.

They are new and got a ton of press today and therefore lots of traffic. In time I'm sure they will find their footing. I really like the tabs feature. If nothing else it might spur more innovation as far as the UI goes.

LED-holic said:

Cuil has a long way to go before it is a threat to Google.

Click to expand...

Certainly has it said it was too busy to handle my search I've never had that happen with Google.
Norm

bitslammer said:

There's a new search engine in town.

I started using the Internet before there was a web. I started with simple Gopher, WAIS, Archie and Veronica sites. Then came Yahoo and the Lynx text based browser. When the Web hit Yahoo was king. Then I moved to AltaVista for search. Google has been my choice for several years now with the occasional foray onto other engiens for specific purposes.

Now comes Cuil http://www.cuil.com/

So far I like the layout but we'll see if they can last. The one thing they do have over Google is much better privacy practices.

"Logs We do not keep logs of our users' search activity."

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/search/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209602251

http://gizmodo.com/5029838/ex+googlers-build-cuil-search-engine-say-its-bigger-than-google

Click to expand...

I like it and I plan on using it from now on. Thanks for this!

I clicked on the link then immediately click on back button, black background with near white elements make my eyes hurt.

This is my first search engine choice
http://www.clusty.com
It may not quite have as many hits as google but allows you to drill down into subcategories which IMO makes it 10 times more useful.

I tried finding my web site and stuff on it but nada... Then I tried some popular flashlights here and barely got anything vs. Google that had tons of hits. I think it's going to try to be a big splash and the developer obviously impressed someone at CNN but the numbers quoted and other stuff I read was so full of BS IMO that they'll be forgotten shortly when people realize it's nothing compared to Google. Google is gigantic in their data centers (see the one in just Oregon alone is huge) and with over 20,000 employees do you really think some upstart former Google employee with a couple people is going to give Google anything to worry about?

Sorry but I say it's just a lot of hype. I can state bitslammers "I started using the Internet before there was a web. I started with simple Gopher, WAIS, Archie and Veronica sites. Then came Yahoo and the Lynx text based browser. When the Web hit Yahoo was king. Then I moved to AltaVista for search. Google has been my choice" and that fits me almost exactly too but I've used Google since they first came onto the scene (1998-1999). So not too slam dunk the new girl in town (Cuil) but I'm not expecting much with Google holding 62% of the search engine market, Yahoo 21% and Microsoft 8.5% - both the last 2 have invested millions in their search engines but they can't even get close to Google.

As far as privacy and Google - Sandbox and other methods make this no concern to me.

Cuil servers crashed yesterday due to overload. This article in Time says it all - nearly what I said above and why Cuil is no threat to Google or even Yahoo or Microsoft: Time article on Cuil

http://goosh.org/

Much better

Regards,
Tempest

matrixshaman said:

Cuil servers crashed yesterday due to overload. This article in Time says it all - nearly what I said above and why Cuil is no threat to Google or even Yahoo or Microsoft: Time article on Cuil

Click to expand...

And 15 years ago I, as well as others, thought that Yahoo was the end all be all as a directory and for web search. Now days hardly anybody still uses the directory model except to navigate within a site.

Things change. AOL, Netscape, token ring...all seemed indomitable at one time, but I will say Google is never asleep at the wheel. They do strive for constant growth and innovation instead of resting on their laurels.

I don't like the results page. Google's is far better, IMO.

"There's a new search engine in town...."

I was trying to check it out yesterday but they were hit with something like the "Slashdot Effect".

I think it's really exciting. My hope is that in addition to indexing more sites than Google that they will include a NEAR operator. That would go a long way with many searchers.

Sub_Umbra said:

My hope is that in addition to indexing more sites than Google that they will include a NEAR operator. That would go a long way with many searchers.

Click to expand...

I sent them and email asking if they were planning on any regex like filters. No response yet. I use things lie the "-" , "site:" and "~" Google features a lot.

Google is great for most things but their rating system does not always put the most important information on top.

I'm waiting for (and hope they implement) searching based on XML tags.

I have tuned my Google Fu so that I can find pretty much anything I'm looking for on the first page. Hence, switching over to Cuil just means I have to learn Cuil Fu. No thanks.

Mike Painter said:

Google is great for most things but their rating system does not always put the most important information on top...

Click to expand...

I've never been a fan of the ever-changing Google "Page Ranking" system. They are ALWAYS tweaking it and since it's secret one never knows exactly how it works on any given day.

Trying to give everyone popular results no matter what they search for is probably not the best way to implement a text index search IMO. Their goofy Page Ranking system is why Google searchers in the past used to get JOKES at the very top of the results page when searching for "italian army." :sigh: I'm not interested in what other Google searchers found helpful. I just want to search the index without all of the constantly mutating fuzzy crap that Google insists on putting in my way.

Google really needs more competition.