Who will be next in search?
Is it possible to create a larger index than Google?
Can you change the landscape of search overnight?
The follow Big 3 (plus 1) are the leaders in search.
These guys are the reason we fret over Search Engine Optimization to ensure our websites get indexed. (Well, most of us just fret over Google.)
There is one guarantee about search – Changes are constant! Enter… a newcomer who announces they are the next search beast to be reckoned with.
Cuil
Cuil is a new search engine that claims it can index web pages significantly faster than Google. The interface for search results is similar to a 3-column magazine, sometimes showing thumbnail pictures inset into each article.
I wanted to learn more about Cuil, so I went to Google! Go, figure! I especially liked this snippet:
Cuil Stumbles out of the Gate – Jul 28, 2008
Stumble it did. It has the audience laughing!
Cuil was developed by ex-Googlers and announced itself as “Google-killer” – oh, boy! They did a bang-up PR job with announcements blanketing the walls of tech and search news websites. Well, they won’t be found guilty of murder, because their attempt to kill Google has thus far been unsuccessful. The following discussions reveal Cuil has many issues:
- Twitter conversation about Cuil – Take a look at the changing sentiment and tweets.
- SEOmoz Cuil analysis and discussion – Your eyes may glaze over at the depth of detail and the shortcomings of Cuil.
- Search Engine Land: Cuil Launches – Can This Search Start-Up Really Best Google?
- Search Engine Land: Cuil Fast Test – Relevancy Isn’t a Google Killer
I’m won’t try to summarize the last two articles. Good reading for those who want to know more.
TASK: [ ] Visit Cuil and search for your name, your company’s name. Please share your findings. Is it accurate?
Yuil
Here come the copycatters! TechCrunch announced Yuil, a “mashup” of Yahoo search results presented with the 3-column magazine layout of the Cuil look and feel. (Think of it like a horse painted with zebra stripes.) AND…talk about accurate! The discussion on TechCrunch was about this great parody and the accuracy of Yuil’s results.
Time to write a blog post about Yuil. But who the heck are these guys? Remember, changes are constant.
I took a Yuil screenshot, cropped the logo, went for a walk, had dinner… GONE! Yuil has been shut down. They received a cease and desist order from Cuil.
July 30, 2008
Yahoo! BOSS is easy — meet Yuil
Updated Again: Yuil is dead. However, you can always get the same great search results here.
Clicking on “here” takes you to Yahoo!
Maybe Yahoo! results are really worth taking a look at! Why are we fretting so much about Google?
A few hours ago we we so excited about Yuil, and now we find out they were simply Yahoo! results with a Cuil interface!
TASK: [ ] Visit Yahoo! and search for your name, your company’s name. How do they compare to Google? Please share your findings.
Drum roll… Whuil be next in Search?
Tags: Cuil, Google, Search Engines, Yahoo, Yuil
[...] Here is the original post: Cuil, Yuil – Whuil be next in Search? [...]
Well, I did the task comparison between cuil, google and yahoo.
Without anymore input from me than what I introduced in the search box, Google has, definitely won in terms of relevancy. Cuil, is by far the worst of the three. Than we have Yahoo with it’s suggestions. I loved them. I has been a long time since I used Yahoo for searching… The interface has improved, yet it needs something more. As does Cuil.
Cuil is great if you’re searching for passing time. It is like reading a magazine (without your glasses). Assuming the relevance of the results is the same, I had the most trouble finding out wich result I wanted in cuil. It may be from me, but the pictures, all they did, was distract me. Cuil snippets could be good because they show one full sentence or paragraph to contextualize what I’m reading, yet it’s only one snippet. And when I’m searching I don’t want to spend a lot of time reading through a lot of text. I read something, a litle bit more and decide if it’s a good result or not. A full paragraph doesn’t do me any good at all for that. Cuil also has a presentational problem: it’s letters are to condensed and not large enough. It doesn’t facilitate reading or skimming through the results.
This letter-spacing problem is also an issue for yahoo. But since they don’t present a lot of text is easier to read. The font is larger also. Its searches would benefit with the “related” google feature. Sometimes I don’t know or can’t express what I’m searching for in words so I go by approximation. Search something, see a result I like, though it’s not yet what I need and click on related results to see if there’s anything more related to what I want.
Google has it’s own issues to, but not only it does give me more relevant results it also has more easier to read interface (with yahoo close by). Yep, I’m still sticking with Google for now.
Oh, and I’m sticking with Google for other reasons as well, not only the search relevancy or the interface appearance. Google, as a lot of services that go along side with their search results: results within the same website are grouped together, restrict results to my language or my country is one click away, related searches, image search (with the piclens plugin it’s awesome), news and group searches… etc.
Ricardo, Are you a usability specialist? A lot of what you described falls right in line with principles about effective design. I so agree with you and appreciate your insight. You address some key issues.
If results are poorly presented and cluttered, or if there are too many superfluous images, we cannot easily find what we need. This is a lost opportunity for Cuil. One’s eyes jump around the page. I felt a “confusion” – Do I scan down or to the right? You stated it well!
I admit that I’m sticking with Google, too.
Thanks for the tip on the PicLens FireFox plugin! And thanks for such a fantastic analysis!
[...] as well Javarants – http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=dth0BVnE2xG19PBwrscPhQ – ReferencesCuil, Yuil – Whuil be next in Search?Check out Sam Pullaras Yuil search product. He hacked together a search engine that looks and [...]