Wednesday July 30, 2008
David Shipley - 9:23 AM ADT

The U is for Useless.

From the Associated Press:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Anna Patterson's last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google Inc. bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system.

She believes her latest invention is even more valuable — only this time it's not for sale.

Patterson instead intends to upstage Google, which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet.

The end result is Cuil, pronounced "cool." Backed by $33 million in venture capital, the search engine plans to begin processing requests for the first time Monday.

Cuil had kept a low profile while Patterson, her husband, Tom Costello, and two other former Google engineers — Russell Power and Louis Monier — searched for better ways to search.

Now, it's boasting time.

I thought "cool" people didn't need to boast? Also, these particular Cuil shouldn't be boasting about anything. Its search results are dismal, it attached random, incorrect images to results and sometimes you can't even connect to the server.

Cuil is a classic example of sizzle over steak. A hot-looking but functionally-challenged web site isn't going to change the world the way Google has. Besides, Microsoft has the market covered on functionally-challenged software. They may even have a patent.

Cuil needs to go back to formula (see the first Spider-Man film) before it's too late.

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There is a lot of talk in the industry that Cuil is NOT trying to be a search engine. The weak branding is one example. The consensus among many insiders is that Cuil is positioning itself to be purchased for the value of its allegedly more efficient indexing technology. They claim to be able to index pages at 1/10th the cost of Google.

I don't think anyone involved in the tech scene out west believes they have any serious intentions to compete for market share.
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TED G., Moncton on 01/08/08 12:23:51 AM ADT
That sounds like one of those start-ups that's sole purpose is to be bought by Microsoft. Re-brand. Over-price. Under-deliver. Microsoft.
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Chris S., Moncton on 03/08/08 08:05:23 PM ADT

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