Often when some new search product comes along, the blogosphere wonders aloud whether it’s a Google Killer. A recent example of this would be Siri. Google may have a response to Siri in the works, but nothing’s killing Google in the foreseeable future.
Back in 2008, a search engine called Cuil launched. 2 years later, its servers were shut down. It may not be dead completely, however. News comes today (via Bill Slawski), Google has acquired 7 of Cuil’s patent applications.
- Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with a Variety of Display Paradigms
- Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results Using Tabs
- Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results Using Stacks
- Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with Configurable Columns and Textual Summary Lengths
- Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with an Associated Anchor Area
- Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with Various Forms of Advertising
- Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with a Menu of Refining Search Terms
Cuil launched to a fair amount of industry hype, touting a bigger index and better relevance than competitors. They claimed an index three times the size of Google’s at the time, with 120 billion pages. The patents don’t appear to deal with any significant indexing methods, however, and instead focus on aesthetics. As you can see, they’re all related to the display of search results.
It’s worth noting that former Googlers Anna Patterson and Russell Power were heavily involved in the creation of Cuil.Patterson actually rejoined Google in 2010.
For more on Cuil, peruse some of our past coverage on it:
Cuil Search Thinks Knowledge Is Cool
Cuil Crashes And Burns At Launch
Cuil Interest Shows Hunger For Search Competitor
