Cuil se ia de Google dar poarta doliu din start

Este interesant de vazut cat de repede se raspandeste o stire in blogosfera romaneasca. La ora scrierii acestui articol, Google Blogsearch listeaza 7 pagini de rezultate despre Cuil.com si pana cand citesti tu, vor sari de zece. Un prilej excelent sa ne uitam la motoarele de cautare si cum au evoluat.

screenshot of the now defunct cuil pageCuil poarta doliu fiindca are o interfata intunecata, care mie-mi place, dar multora nu. Cuil se lauda ca indexeaza mai multe pagini decat Google ceea ce-i greu de crezut, dat fiind ca Google nu publica numarul de pagini indexate (3). In orice caz Cuil are cojones, asta-i clar!

Stire a aparut aproape simultant in ArsTehnica (4) si NYT (5), fiind apoi preluata de mai toate marile agentii de presa si scurgandu-se eventual in blogosfera si presa romaneasca (2). Ce-mi place mie este ca aproape toti bloggerii (1) scriu ca noul motor de cautare (cuil.com, pronuntat "cul", precum cool), ar fi fost pornit de baieti de la Google. Asta-i numai pe juma'te adevarat. In realitate, a fost pornit de o echipa sot-sotie, plus cativa baieti. Cagica, Anna Patterson, este fostul chief search architect, adica tartorita sefa. Tom Costello, barbatu-sau, este guristul grupului.

Povestea motoarelor de cautare este insa mai lunga decat isi amintesc comentatorii, romani sau neromani. Pe la inceputul anilor '80, cand Internetul se transforma lent din bebe in copilas, cand era inca in cea mai mare parte text si arta ASCII, motoarele de cautare erau inexistente. Internetul interactiv era limitat la doua retele principale: IRC, bunicul instant messaging si USENET, bunica forumurilor. Majoritatea viitorilor internauti erau prinsi si "investiti" in BBS-uri, conexii adhoc de computere realizate prin liniile de telefon. Miscarea in masa catre Internet avea sa inceapa abia dupa ce un numar de conditii au fost indeplinite:
1. Al Gore inventeaza Internetul si efectul de sera
2. Tim Berners-Lee inventeaza ceasul Swatch, schweitzerul si ciocolata elvetiana
3. Eric Bina & Marc Andreessen @ NCSA screm Mosaic (7) si continua cu Netscape, comasand tati sau aproape tati retelele Internet (USENET, email, IRC, FTP, WWW) sub o interfata unica
4. Jerry Yang incepe Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web care avea sa devina in cativa ani Yahoo
5. Zamolxis incepe WWW Integrated care avea sa devina mai tarziu Also Sprach Zamolxis si alte cateva chestii :)

(cauta-i pe wikipedia daca nu-ti zic nimic)

La inceputul anilor '90 Web-ul era suficient de mic ca sa poti tine minte tot ce aveai nevoie. Majoritatea viitorilor 'net gurus intrau pe net ca sa suga binaries de pe USENET din ierarhia alt.binaries.* si eventual sa participe in discutii. Soc.culture.romanian era pe vremea aia plin de discutii rodnice, nefiind inca invadat de cocalari dementi care si-o bagau in toti si toate, si-n special unul intr-altul. Si-apoi, doi avocati de emigrare au bagat anunturi cum ca te-ajuta ei sa emigrezi in USA contra unor sume modice pe toate newsgroupurile. Asta este practic inceputul transformarii internetului intr-o entitate comerciala, sfarsitul inocentei si pierderea virginitatii.

Yahoo s-a transformat in portal, lasand componentul de cautare sa putrezeasca. S-au grabit sa-i ia locul Infoseek si Altavista (8). Altavista a aparut ca o modalitate pentru Digital Equipment sa demonstreze cat de tari ii sunt computerele, care prin anii '90 zbarnaiau la 64 bits dar nimeni nu-ntelegea de ce era asta important (8). Si-ntrucat aveau vreo 500 GB de memorie, spiderul lor era multithreaded si a reusit sa indexeze mult mai mult decat altii. Altavista ajunge eventual sa faca search pentru Yahoo, intrucat lor nu le-a traznit prin cap c-ar putea sa faca bani din reclame - au incercat, ca si altii, dar n-au reusit. Treptat insa, Altavista pierde teren, intrucat n-au reusit sa gaseasca o modalitate de a face bani. Pe vremea aia, reclamele erau intrusive si tipatoare. Daca puneai reclame, nu mai venea nimeni; daca nu puneai nu mai aveai bani si mureai de fuoame.

Nu mult mai tarziu apare Google, care a luat ideea celor de la Altavista cu interfata minimala si a gasit o modalitate de a baga anunturi si reclame fara a-ti scoate ochii. Restul este arhicunoscut. Google insa a facut o gramada de alte chestii care i-au solidificat pozitia de lider: a angajat cele mai tari creiere, are grija de angajati cum n-a mai avut nimeni sau aproape nimeni din '98, de la big bust, incoace si nu a facut nici o greseala majora pana acum. Angajatii Google isi pot devota pana la 20% din timp proiectelor personale, pastrand siguranta jobului, ceea ce ma face sa ma-ntreb daca cei de la Cuil chiar sunt convinsi ca sunt mai buni, sunt saditi de Google care-si doreste un competitor demn de acest nume, sau pur si simplu au fost dati afara. Cuil pedaleaza impotriva curentului, si eu le urez succes, dar nu-i vad izbandind.

In momentul de fata, competitorii majori Google in Search Space sunt numai Yahoo si, la distanta, Microsoft Live Search. Altii mici care spera sa creasca ar fi
Mahalo.com
Ask.com
(Powerset.com wikia)


Daca cele de mai sus nu te satisfac, NoodleTools (11, 12) te tine de mana si te-nvata:

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Social Issues Browse hot topics and pro/con links
Google Directory Search this subject tree enhanced by Google results


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INFOMINE Browse annotated research and educational sites enhanced by second-tier "robot-selected" results


I need to investigate alternative or related topics Grokker Explore a web of your topic and subtopics (Yahoo results)
Clusty Uncover buried sites by choosing a related cluster
Ask.com Select "Expand Your Search"


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SurfWax Click "Focus" to identify similar, broader, and narrower topics

 
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authoritative and scholarly sites chosen by a subject expert Librarians' Internet Index Search the selective database or drill down into the well-organized subject tree
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personal help from experts Sources and Experts Browse a journalist's contacts
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AllExperts Self-identified subject experts volunteer to answer questions


sites ranked or tagged as valuable or relevant Google High PageRank means popular, relevant sites link to the page
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Ask.com High ExpertRank indicates subject-specific popularity


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I need facts...
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Ca sa-ntelegi mai bine ce sunt si cum functioneaza motoarele de cautare lasa-i pe cei de la UC @ Berkeley (9) sa-ti explice. Iata si o lista de 100 de motoare de la readwriteweb (10), unele inca in viata, altele disparute deja:
A9
AOL
AURA!
blinkx
boing
bookmach.com
BOXXET
ChaCha
ClipBlast!
Clusty
collarity
CometQ
CONGOO
d e c i p h o
del.icio.us
digg
digg labs swarm
Ditto
dumbfind
exalead
factbites
fazzle
FEEDS|2.0
Feedster
FindSounds
GIGABLAST
girafa
gnn o d
GoDefy
goshme
GoYams
grokker
ICEROCKET
ixquick
KartOO
last.fm
Lexxealpha
like
LiveDeal
liveplasma
Local.com
lurpo
MetaGlossary
mnemomap
Mojeek
Mooter
MrSAPO
MS. DEWEY
nayio
Octora
OiHoi Search
Pagebull
PlanetSearch
pluggd
PODZINGER
Previewseek
pronto.com
QTsearch
Quintura 
Releton
retrevo gamma
riya
ROLLYO O
SearchTheWeb2
SEEQPOD
sidekiq
Simply Google
Singing FISH
Slideshow
Slifter
soople
Speegle
Sphider
SPURL.net
S R C H R
SurfWax
Swoogle
TagJag!
thefind.com
Trexy
turboscout
UJIKO
url.com
VMGO.com
Web 2.0
Webaroo
WEBBRAIN
What to RENT?
whonu?
WIKIO
WiseNut
Yahoo! MINDSET
yoono
yoople
yubnub
YuFind
ZABASEARCH
zapmeta
Zippy
ZUULA


Surse

1. http://blogsearch.google.ro/blogsearch?q=cuil&lr=lang_ro
2. http://www.zf.ro/articol_181277/fosti_angajati_ai_google_pregatesc_un_nou_motor_de_cautare__cuil.html
3. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/we-knew-web-was-big.html
4. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080728-ex-googlers-launch-biggest-search-engine-on-the-web.html
5. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/technology/28cool.html
6. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/five-reasons-cuil-wont-kill/story.aspx
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCSA_Mosaic
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altavista
9. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html
10. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_100_alternative_search_engines.php
11. http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html
12. http://www.noodletools.com/noodlequest/

2 comments:

  1. Mie nu-mi place Cuil ca sunt prea putine rezultate pe pagina

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mda, sunt la inceput. Poate ca se vor trezi in timp..

    ReplyDelete

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