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SCOTT JAGOW: France and Germany have been searching for an answer to Google. They've been working on a European search engine that could compete with it, but Germany has decided to back out of the project.

Here's Thomas Crampton of the International Herald Tribune:

THOMAS CRAMPTON: The project first came out in April when French President Jacques Chirac spoke about it. Then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder agreed to it and their idea was 'we need to have a European answer to the dominance of Google in the search area.'

Kevin O'Brian of the International Herald Tribune says there could be some political motivation behind this.

KEVIN O'BRIAN: The sensitivity around the anti-Google nature of the effort caused many here in Germany to think twice. Germany now leading the G8 and the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, it was a clear message that Germany wasn't going to help finance this type of an effort.

Germany plans to develop its own search engine called Theseus. France meanwhile is expected to continue with the Quaero project without the Germans.