Search Engine Still 'Cuil' After Rough Launch? - Page 3

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The next big hit?

Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin has seen many a Silicon Valley startup flame out, but only a precious few reach the status of a Google or eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY).

"I tried Culi, and you can see it's a work in progess," Bajarin told InternetNews.com. "The reason you don't write something like this off is I had the same reaction when Yahoo first came out and Google." He notes their were more popular search sites at the time, notably Altavista and Excite, but then Google came out with a more advanced, contextual ad system, and the company took off.

"Ultimately, Cuil will have to show why it's different than Google either in the richness of search results or enhancements, and right now that part isn't that clear to me, Bajarin said. "But they have some very smart people over there."

Cuil can claim an edge over Google when it comes to online privacy. Since its search engine ranks pages based on content instead of number of clicks, Cuil says personal data collection is unnecessary and the personal search history of its users always remains private.

For now, Cuil doesn't feature ads. Patterson said the company has some "unique ideas" on how it might offer ads, but has also been approached by companies looking to partner with it on an ad system.

Analyst Feldman agrees that basic search has reached a commodity status. "I can point to many services that are superior to Google," she said. "A lot of what's going on now is about buzz, marketing, mindshare and changing people's habits, Feldman explained. "The barriers are low, it's easy to try to know things, but changing people's habits is not so easy."

She said Cuil was smart to come out with a big index. "The size of the index is important because you aren't going to find something that's not there," she said.

Patterson said Cuil works more efficiently because it groups Web pages by content. Ninety to 95 percent of our queries are answered by one machine," she said. "We have phenomenal data mining."

Patterson said she has much fondness for her former colleagues at Google but left to start with a clean slate and the chance to implement new ideas. "Google is one of those tools where when it doesn't work you blame yourself and think you didn't type in the right thing."

As an example, she notes a search for "Hertz" on Google provides an initial list of sites related to Hertz rental cars. On Cuil you get similar results up top along with a summary and link to the Hertz Foundation for applied science fellowships.

Google's mission statement is to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Cuil has a slightly different take on that idea. "We're trying to help you find the right thing," Patterson said.

And for the record, Cuil should be able to afford a pretty decent sign if it ever feels the need. According to VentureBeat Cuil's raised $33 million from investors Madrone Capital Partners, Tugboat Ventures and Greylock Partners.