In the vast majority of news concerning Google and its numerous competitors (aka Google Killers) as to who has the potential to win the search war, only one other search engine deserves some attention. It is called Cuil (pronounced Cool) and was founded by former Googlers. Check it out. According to some experts including Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Land, Cuil has the potential to compete, but more so Microsoft than Google and has yet to create a dent in the search market. Here is the article from the NY times called Cuil’s New Search Engine: Cheaper Than Google, but Not Better. Now, please try it out and let me know your thoughts and if you think Cuil has the quality required t motivate Google users to switch.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

SAN FRANCISCO—In her two years at Google, Anna Patterson helped design and build some of the pillars of the company’s search engine, including its large index of Web pages and some of the formulas it uses for ranking search results. Now, along with her husband, Tom Costello, and a few other Google alumni, she is trying to upstage her former employer. On Monday, their company, Cuil, is unveiling a search engine that they promise will be more comprehensive than Google’s and that they hope will give its users more relevant results. The makers of the Cuil search engine say it should provide better results and show them in a more attractive manner.

“I think it will be better,” Mr. Costello said in an interview. “But there is no question that the public has to decide.”

Cuil, pronounced “cool,” is only the latest in a long string of start-up companies that have been founded and financed with the goal of competing with Google, as well as Yahoo and Microsoft. (In June, Google accounted for 61.5 percent of search queries in the United States, while Yahoo held 20.9 percent and Microsoft had 9.2 percent, according to comScore.) Some of the most prominent include Powerset, which Microsoft recently bought, and Wikia, which was founded by Jimmy Wales, one of the creators of Wikipedia. So far, none have managed to make a dent in the search market.

But some analysts say Cuil has potential, in part because of the pedigree of its founders.

“This is the most promising thing I’ve seen in a while,” said Danny Sullivan, who has followed the online search business for more than a decade and is the editor of Search Engine Land. “Whether they are going to threaten Microsoft, much less Google, that’s another story.”

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 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.

“If it turns out that they have good relevancy, I could see that the word of mouth” would bring Cuil some popularity, he said.

Ms. Patterson left Google in 2006 to found Cuil. The new company has other prominent ex-Google employees, including Russell Power, who worked with Ms. Patterson on the large Google index, and Louis Monier, a former chief technology officer at AltaVista, a pioneering search engine. Cuil, which has about 30 employees and is in Menlo Park, Calif., has raised $33 million from venture investors.

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Since the introduction of the Yellow Pages new positioning within the search engines community with their new slogan: The Find Engine, I could not stop but to rant about the company. As if hearing them on the radio was not hurtful enough, that did not help last month when I saw them at Search Engine Strategies in Toronto where they were desperately trying to give their Yellow pages directory a new life by mingling with the search marketing community. I did find a new usage recently to the Yellow pages directory and I was delighted with it. Check it out:

This picture was taken over the last few days while Sonia and I were camping near Harrison Hot Springs, a great camping spot. Email me for indication. 

Thanks go to Sonia who thought it would be a good idea to unclog our closet with these massive books that we don’t use anymore. They not longer clog our entrance closet and I am warmth with pleasure. 

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Beginning tomorrow (July 17), GoDaddy will offer .me domains in open registration. The registrar and hosting provider hopes that people will sign up for two reasons: 1. to have their own name as their domain and 2. to have more control over their email address.

“‘I want my name as a domain name’ is something I hear often from Internet users,” said GoDaddy.com CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “DotME not only gives everyone a chance to register their own name, but provides the perfect domain for expressing themselves.”

Next Monday, July 21 at 12pm EST, Encirca will sell .pro domains (pdf) as part of the relaunch of the extension. Only licensed professionals can register .pro domains.

“We enthusiastically support the re-launch of dot-pro,” says Thomas Barrett, President of EnCirca, the leading dot-pro registrar. “These long overdue changes will open the door for businesses representing over 1,100 licensed professions, from every country in the world, to establish their Internet brand identity with the .pro domain name.”

Previously, the .pro domain was only available for four types of professionals in four countries, but now the domain is available to many more professions in hundreds of countries. Examples of eligible licensed professionals include:

* Lawyers
* Accountants
* Engineers
* Architects
* Surveyors
* Doctors
* Dentists
* Chiropractors
* Nurses
* Opticians
* Optometrists
* Podiatrists
* Psychologists
* Therapists
* Social Workers
* Veterinarians
* Plumbers
* Inspectors
* Building Contractors
* Electricians
* Investment Advisors
* Real Estate Brokers
* Insurance Brokers
* Educators
* Patent and Trademark Examiners
* Court Reporters
* Police and Fire Safety Officers
* any other profession where an official credential is required for a business or individual to offer services

Before you make those all important domain purchases, be sure to brief yourself on the impact of domain names on SEO:
How to Choose the Best Domains for Search Engine Visibility
What’s in a (Domain) Name? Take 2
Is The Company Worth As Much As The Domain Name?

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On September 11-12, 2008 Alexandre Brabant, Co-Chair Of SEMPO Canada Search Marketing Association, will be attending the Internet Marketing Conference in Vancouver (BC) Canada. For this occasion, SEMPO Canada will have a booth (TBD) and you will be able to drop by and ask any question about Search Marketing. Everything you need to know about Starting your own Search Marketing campaign from people who eat, sleep and breathe Search Marketing. Many members from the local Search Marketing Community will also be present. The Internet Marketing Conference Vancouver will be held at the Coast Plaza Hotel in Vancouver (BC) Canada.

Here is more about The Internet Marketing Conference Experience:
Speakers and participants from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Asia are traveling to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to take part in Internet Marketing Conference (IMC) on September 11-12, 2008. To this occasion, all aspects of doing business online will be covered: web analytics, strategy, content, search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), e-mail marketing, social media, on-site behavioral targeting, multivariate testing, and much more will be covered.

Learn how to acquire and retain customers by optimizing your marketing:
The program will mix presentations with discussion panels and networking opportunities. Meet with those who have dared, pioneered, and succeeded. Learn from mistakes by others. Whether you’re an advertiser, a marketer, or a business analyst, our goal is to provide you with valuable and actionable knowledge. Newbies and seasoned Internet marketers alike will find something they can take back to the office. IMC is produced by experts, for experts, and for all of you who’d like to become experts. Over the past nine years, it has been held in eight North American and European cities. Welcome to the fourteenth IMC!

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