sevfiv Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 ...and the creators say its index is larger than Google's (http://www.cuil.com)Mr. Costello, a former researcher at Stanford, said that with 120 billion Web pages, Cuil’s search index is larger than any other. The company uses a form of data mining to group Web pages by content, which makes the search engine more efficient, he said. Instead of showing results as short snippets of text and images with links, it displays longer entries and uses more pictures. It also provides tools to help users further refine their queries.Google would not comment on Cuil and would not disclose the size of its own index. But in an e-mail statement, Google said that it maintained “the largest collection of documents searchable on the Web” and welcomed competition.Mr. Sullivan said he was unimpressed by Cuil’s claim that its index includes more Web pages, noting that that could mean users are “overwhelmed by a whole bunch of junk.” But he said that Cuil’s new approach to ranking pages and presenting results could prove to be a hit with some users.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/technolo...amp;oref=sloginhttp://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/?...p;utm_medium=en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I tried searching "snow mountain" houston -james, and it turned up zero results. Either it doesn't let you search by eliminating certain words or it uses a different method. Disspointed so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chenevert Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Google did comment that a larger index does not mean better results. They actually delete items from their index to get better search results.With that said, I did some Cuil searches and was disappointed in the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I've heard the same. Some people I know with very prominent web sites return zero results. I don't know if HAIF is in the cuil index, but I know its spider has been scraping this site every couple of days for about a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memebag Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 It sucks. Type in "HAIF Westbury Square" and it takes you to one dead link that seems to have no relationship to The HAIF. Google shows 1800 hits, the first being a thread on this site titled "Westbury Square Memories". Cuil also attaches seemingly random images to matches that don't come from the match. Not impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Hmm. I like the interface a lot. And I like the auto-complete function (like Yahoo has), so I don't have to type an entire long phrase or word.But I get zip by way of results when searching for some pretty common items. The search results it returns on other terms range from dead on to totally out in left field.When I search for my own website (not that it's common), I get some very random results including an article about Sienna Miller picking her nose, repeated plugs for something called a "Digi Chick" gallery and some very, very, very gross porn. Heh. But I don't get a single result for the actual website itself.On the other hand, Google returns my site almost immediately, as does Altavista. If you tack "Houston" on the end of it, it's the first result. Yahoo returns my site as the first search result.I'm not convinced yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 I have had horrible search results. Hopefully over time this will change, and the emphasis on relevancy will come through. If you can't find something that is for sure out there on the web, it isn't useful (or relevant!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 Just came across this - a human-powered search engine:http://www.mahalo.comSearch results have been ehh, but the tabbed layout is interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Just came across this - a human-powered search engine:http://www.mahalo.comSearch results have been ehh, but the tabbed layout is interesting...Maybe this one will do better than that other human-powered search engine, DMOZ. I was one of the early supporters of DMOZ until one of the editors changed my web site's description to add "laden with advertising" which I'm sure only hurt my chances of someone visiting. The thing is, though, the web site (not this one) only had two ads per page -- far fewer than similar web sites. I'm not sure why that particular editor took a swipe at my site, but it goes to show that the human factor is a problem.It's funny how things go...Too much information - human problemSearch directory - human solutionToo many entries - human problemSearch engine - machine solutionToo much spam - machine problemNew search method - human solution.Mahalo is a human solution to a problem that we invented computers to solve so we wouldn't have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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