Cuil.com - Move Over Google?

Cuil, pronounced “cool”, has come out of stealth mode and launched a search engine with an index of over 120 billion web pages. While Google no longer discloses the number of pages it indexes, it was at about 8.9 billion just a few years ago. Not only does Cuil appear to have the largest index of pages, it also displays results in a more visual way by adding photos across the results page that include sidebars that can be clicked on to learn more about any given topic. Also, Cuil promises not to retain users’ search history information which could appeal to those not comfortable with Google’s business model. The company is a project of four ex-Google employees; reason enough to keep a close eye on future developments.

“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.”

Cuil has received over $30 million in funding and it is spear headed by a proven team of ex-Googlers. This could be the engine that gives Google a run for their money.

Even if their engine is superior, will they be able to really challenge Google and its near-monopoly position as the world’s search engine? Branding in the search engine space has become almost as important as the technology and Cuil will have their work cut out for them.