Print - Ex-Googlers Release 'Cuil' New Search Engine

A group of former Google engineers have released a new Internet search engine called Cuil (pronounced "cool") that they say exceeds the index size of market leader Google while offering various other advantages. The idea, they say, is to out-Google Google.

"The Internet has grown exponentially in the last fifteen years but search engines have not kept up--until now. Cuil searches more pages on the Web than anyone else--three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft," a posting on the Cuil Web site reads. "Rather than rely on superficial popularity metrics, Cuil searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance. We believe that analyzing the Web rather than our users is a more useful approach, so we don't collect data about you and your habits, lest we are tempted to peek. With Cuil, your search history is always private."

Further explaining the difference between its approach and Google's Cuil says that people want to find information that's relevant, even if it's not popular. "Maybe no one phones your grandmother much, but if her friend from the old neighborhood wants to get in touch, shouldn't her number be in the book?" the site asks. "Cuil lists all the numbers, even the ones that aren't called much. Because one day someone will need that number."

From a usage perspective, the Cuil Web site offers a sharply different experience from Google and its me-too competitors. The site returns search results in a three-column view with large abstracts, a lot of color, and images. Related searches are called out in a pleasant-looking gray-tone column as well.

As the Cuil Web site notes, the word cuil is "an old Irish word for knowledge." You can find out more about Cuil, and test the search engine, at the Cuil Web site.

I gave this search engine a shot, and I like the layout of the results...I think. I found myself skipping over results in the three-column layout when trying to skim for results, but I'm sure that's just because I'm used to looking at Google-style pages. The pictures are a nice touch. However, I'm underwhelmed with it as a search engine, so far. I tried a few searches that usually point pretty much only to certain pages on my site, and though the text was an exact match, my pages weren't even listed. It seems to prefer results that have associated pictures (for their pretty layout) over pure text entries. That doesn't seem logical... In general, I found it pretty darn hard to find what I was searching for with this search engine, no matter what it was. Maybe it'll be useful if they keep a more complete cache (due to better web crawling) than Google, but as a day-to-day search engine, I don't see many people using it. ...and how long has it been since someone designed a popular webpage with an all-black background and a few minimalistic white elements? Then to have the results page with a white background is quite a shock on the eyes. =)

I pretty much agree with james3mg. Tried it on a few things. One I accidentally misspelled. No suggestion of a correction as in google. When I corrected it, still no hits; Google had lots. May try it again in a month after it has had a chance to crawl the web some more.

I.M.H.O. - I'm quite satisfied with the raw data that comes up first on Info.com, it's not so "pretty" as these other sites you Lads mention here. BUT I'm giong to give these others a longer try - - there are times I like the Black B.G. with white lettering, other times it gives me a bloody headache. CUIL is o.k., Bling is kinda' disturbing, but again, I'm going to give them both more of a try. I appreciate everyone's opinions here, thanks for the input. Be SAFE, Be WELL - - PEACE To ALL. . . -Lone Wolf