It’s no big secret that Google won the search engine “wars” years ago, right? But if that is true, why are there companies continuing to develop new search engine technology to compete with “the big G?” Basically, it boils down to this: research and development is the lifeblood of the Internet, and technology never stands still. Accordingly, researchers continue to look for new ways to navigate the Web; to make finding information more efficient and user-friendly.
One new search engine technology that is making waves is called “Cuil” (www.cuil.com). Cuil (pronounced “cool”) is a brand new search engine which uses a vastly different type of indexing than Google, Yahoo or any of the other established companies. The word “Cuil” comes from the ancient Irish language, and means knowledge. Cuil’s objective is to provide an easier way for Web users to locate the knowledge they require via a fast and user-friendly interface.
The new search engine unofficially launched on Sunday, and unlike Google, Cuil ranks web pages according to a unique relevance algorithm. Google, on the other hand, places a great deal of importance on the link popularity of a specific web page, and minimizes the relevance of terms used on the actual page.
The end result is that a search on Cuil will reveal different, and often more interesting results than a standard Google query. According to PCmag.com, Cuil still has a few bugs to work out in the search process, but searching current events, people and new products provides a plethora of great results, many of which seem more relevant than what is available on Google.
For example, searching a person like Barack Obama presents the most current and relevant information relating to the senator and presidential candidate. The only potential downside is that Cuil presents the search results on a two or three column page (according to how your user preferences are set).
While the two or three column page might be ideal for some, it can also be annoying to have to scan the page horizontally in order to find the most relevant results. Of course, this is strictly a matter of taste, and many users may find the horizontal column approach more convenient than the traditional vertical list used by Google, Yahoo and others.
Cuil also employs a safe search function, which can be activated via a single button on the top right of the screen, and users can opt to explore by category, instead of using the traditional search bar.
While Cuil isn’t likely to have Google shaking in its boots just yet, its innovative design and search algorithm could just make it the search engine of choice for many savvy Web users.
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