Why is there such an overwhelming interest in semantic search engines? Cuil (pronounced cool) in particular -- a site literally crippled by first day interest? The site claims it can handle 120 billion documents, but apparently it can't handle the amount of incoming traffic it saw Monday.
Site availability was up and down throughout the day. Webware reported Cuil was busy fighting fires and restoring servers. The problems apparently caused missing or questionable search results. Because of the issues, we have no idea whether Cuil stands to be the Google killer it proclaims.
The amount of press and chatter on Twitter suggests it is, and maybe they're right. Senior ex-Google engineers are responsible for developing the property, and since they were responsible for the search engine giant's development at one point, you'd think they would know what could beat it. Given the amount of research and development Google throws towards the search engine problem, perhaps the only way to beat the behemoth at its own game is to draw from its experience.
Cuil's approach mirrors that of other up-and-coming search engines, such as Hakia and Microsoft's recent acquisition, Powerset, who champion the semantic approach to search. The semantic search engines claim to have better understanding of the meaning of page content, and deliver better results because of it.
The search results, at least with preliminary tests, argue otherwise.
The secret of Cuil's hype is a mystery. While Yahoo and Microsoft battle for second place, searchers may simply be more interested in finding a new Google. What do you think? Are you tired of Google?
[Hat tip to Webware and ReadWriteWeb for the links]
