A search engine that redefines 'cuil'
As of today, Google has a new rival. But even with a broader search index, can Cuil (pronounced "cool") take on the Web's Goliath? Janet Babin tests the engine and gauges the results.
Landing page for the search engine Cuil.com (www.cuil.com)
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TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: So far, Google has taken on all comers and trounced them. It has more than 60 percent of the search engine market. The word "Google" is now in the dictionary. But some former Googlers are gonna try to compete with their old company. This morning, they launched a new search engine called "cool." It's spelled C-U-I-L. It comes from an old Irish word meaning knowledge.
We asked our innovations reporter, Janet Babin, to check it out. She reports from North Carolina Public Radio.
Janet Babin: Cuil says its search index spans 120 billion Web pages. That would make it three times larger than search leader Google. The broader the index, the larger the potential results.
Carl Howe is with technology research company Yankee Group. He says a broader search index won't be enough to push Cuil ahead of the pack:
Carl Howe: More results are not necessarily better. What I want is better results, and that's really the place where I think they're going to have to shine.
I used Google to find Cuil's Web page. Then I searched for Marketplace. The show came up first on both pages. CUIL's results look different -- displayed in magazine blurbs with more photos.
Maybe the biggest difference between the two sites isn't the results, but the search record. Cuil has promised not to store user search histories or Web surfing patterns -- like Google does.
I'm Janet Babin for Marketplace.
Comments
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From CA, 07/28/2008
Heard your story this morning about Cuil.com. Would love to hear Marketplace do a segment on GoodSearch.com, where you can help raise funds for your charity everytime you search. Truly genius.
From Washington, DC, 07/28/2008
Cuil is more like frozen. The search either does not work at all, cannot find content I know exists OR just keeps going and going and going. Maybe I'll check back in a few months...if I get the chance. --connie campanella
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