EngineWorks

Here at EngineWorks, we are habitually tracking the trends of searchers.  Right now, we focus most of our attention on Google, because, simply, that is where most of you out there are searching.  But we also know that Google has some weaknesses, and as Google itself has taught us, the battle for searchers is never over.

An article published today on iMedia Connection titled “3 Companies That Will Change How We Search” profiles several new search engines that may have found the means to gain ground on the G-Men from Mountain View.

Blinkx, launched in 2004, is cutting into the online video market with the ostensibly sci-fi human-like ability of its crawlers to actually hear and see video. The video search company catalogs online videos in a phonetic way, and employs “face-matching” to verify recognizable faces in videos. A shift from YouTube to Blinkx will be welcomed by owners of copyrighted material because, unlike YouTube, the site links to each host site for viewing, which is great for driving traffic!

Two other new search engines, Mahalo and Cuil are also focusing on the following chinks in the Google armor: community review of relevancy at Mahlo, and a super-large index at Cuil. What catches our eye is that AltaVista founder and ex-Google employee Louis Monier is involved with the Cuil project.

Now in its 10th year, Google is the undisputed king of search.  However, as this informative article points out, searchers may be willing to look elsewhere if they want highly specific information. Google’s domination of basic search leaves the door open for innovative specialized search engines. These three, and an ever-increasing pool of other upstarts like them, are gaining speed and increasing their user bases.

Let me know if you perceive that one (or all) of these three new engines stand a chance against the world’s largest search company.  Remember, just a few short years ago, Google was just a research paper in a Stanford dorm room!