Cuil

Google acquires Cuil's remaining patent applications

Google has acquired the final pending patent applications for Cuil, a defunct search engine once touted as a Google challenger.

Cuil's last seven pending patents were acquired by Google with an execution date of February 4, 2011, according to a blog post at SEO By The Sea, but weren't recorded at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office until last week. The record reportedly does not reveal the financial terms of the transfer, but SEO By The Sea notes that Cuil co-founder Anna Patterson returned to Google in 2010.

The patents focus mostly on search interfaces, such as … Read more

Webware 100 Editors' Choice: Cuil & Mobile Me (Failure to Launch)

Site: Cuil and Mobile Me Category: Editors' Choice, Failure to Launch

A lot of Web services fizzle on launch. The "beta" label often provides a line of defense against launch hiccups. But every now and then companies overhype new products that simply aren't close to ready for prime-time launch. The two big winners of the Failure to Launch award for this Webware 100 are, clearly, Cuil and Mobile Me.

Cuil as launched as a competitive search engine to Google, built by ex-Googlers. Early demos looked good, but when the site actually opened to the public, it was … Read more

What would it take to beat Google?

The search engine space is filled with a slew of companies that are vying to become the next Google. What is the "next Google"? It's a search engine that captures the majority of the search engine market--a feat that hasn't been accomplished since Google claimed that crown a decade ago when it finally beat out AltaVista and Yahoo.

Yahoo is still a major player internationally even though it's losing ground both in the U.S. and abroad. Microsoft is scrambling to capture double-digit market share. There are many smaller search engines like Quintura and Cuil, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 778: Google, get off my lawn!

According to Google, there's no such thing as complete privacy. And while we tend to agree, we don't necessarily think that should mean Google can drive up into the driveway, take pictures of the inside of our houses, and put them on the Internet. Maybe we're just not all on the same page. Also, new Mac notebooks and iPods are likely coming soon, along with, but not related to, a new Internet.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 778

Apple Warns of iPod, Mac drought http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Apple_Warns_of_iPod_Mac_Drought/551-91696-615.html

GENI To … Read more

The Real Deal 121: Search

Tom and Rafe discuss how search engines came about, a little bit about how they work, and what different methods are on the horizon. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Is the web making us illiterate? (Hello Cuil, er, Quill, er, Kool)

The web is helping our children read more. Or less. Or, well, maybe it depends on what you call reading. Because if it's got spelling mistakes or words no dictionary has caught up with yet, then it's not really reading, is it?

The New York Times yesterday hosted a spirited debate on the subject. Parents, dyslexics, professors, even children chipped in with their muscular views.

Subtly showing its hand, the Times made sure the article was a very long one. Because, like many other bastions of journalism and literature, it is a newspaper that chooses to uphold certain … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 775: EverCuil

On today's show, we learn how we, too, can purchase an extreme cooling machine, we test out the new Cuil search engine, which is apparently already doomed by its incomprehensible name and the unreasonable hatred of our chat room. Also, Steve Jobs calls to clear the air regarding his health (if you can call it clearing the air, that is), and I go on a rant that includes the term "earwax wiggle." Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 775

‘Hijacked’ SF passwords made public (Thanks Russ960!) http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10000342-83.html

Hammer drops at last: … Read more

Cuil shows us how not to launch a search engine

Google challenger Cuil launched last night in blaze of glory. And it went down in a ball of flames. Immediately after launch, the criticism started to pile on: results were incomplete, weird, and missing.

I talked with Cuil VP of communications Vince Sollitto this morning about the launch issues. CEO Tom Costello was "busy putting out fires," Sollitto said.

Sollitto said there were two issues affecting Cuil search quality currently. First, he said, "We are trying to give people different results." Cuil is pitched as an alternative to traditional search engines, and users should not expect … Read more

The 404 150: Where Justin apologizes profusely to Sarah Tew

We finally get CNET photographer Sarah Tew into The 404 lair and I screw it all up in the preshow. 'Twas totally unintentional, Ms. Tew, I promise! Ahh, this big, dumb mouth of mine. Anyway, Sarah was dragged in by Corinne Shulze, another CNET shooter visiting from the City by the Bay. In nothing short of a miracle, they still agree to do the show and we get right into it.

Wait, not quite...we have to talk about medical ailments and weekend buffoonery, right? Corinne tells us about her fight with a MUNI rail (you should've seen the … Read more

Competing with Google is Cuil

CNET is reporting that ex-Googlers are out to beat their alma mater with a new web search engine, Cuil. A quick review of Cuil reveals that it is slow, redundant (meaning, it displays the same pages over and over rather than an array of different pages), and makes weird associations (It has an old picture for me next to pages that have never had that picture on them).

But that's not the point. The thing that I love about Cuil is that it exists in the first place. Silicon Valley may have its problems, but it thankfully retains the … Read more