other search engines

Microsoft has tried and failed. Yahoo! is a shadow of its former self. Ask and the other search engines are bringing up the rear. So, can Anna Patterson, a former Google employee, make Google cry “Uncle”? Patterson may have built a better mouse trap but it is still going to be hard to unseat Google. After all, you don’t just search the web, you Google it!
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From CNN:

Anna Patterson’s last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google Inc. bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system.

She believes her latest invention is even more valuable – only this time it’s not for sale.

Patterson instead intends to upstage Google, which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet.

The end result is Cuil, pronounced “cool.” Backed by $33 million in venture capital, the search engine plans to begin processing requests for the first time Monday.

Cuil had kept a low profile while Patterson, her husband, Tom Costello, and two other former Google engineers – Russell Power and Louis Monier – searched for better ways to search. (more… )