Is Google Putting a Horse Head in Cuils Bed

July 29, 2008 · Comments

Look at this Google Search result:
google screencap

I just did a search on “Cuil” in Google, and the first result is a Google News post about why Cuil’s not much of a threat. That *really* ranks above the main site?

**Update 2: Matt Cutts came to the comments section to refute the post. I guess the brevity of my post didn’t permit me to give the right amount of disclaimers: 1.) I would never dispute the Goog’s search algorithms. 2.) Most everything I run my life on starts with G. 3.) I was mostly surprised by the result, not actually claiming that Google would manipulate a search result. 4.) Hey, Matt Cutts came by! Cool, eh?

**Update: I’m #5 because of personalized search. Guess I’m not #5 to everyone. Well, it was fun while it lasted. .. >>Formerly: And hey, I’m #5. Woohoo!

My point: is search a battlefield? People writing about Knol think so.

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  • Pete
    If it's a drive-by, it's pretty subtle.

    The news results are always first. And all the news about Cuil is bad news.
  • Oh. Were they? Rats. : )
  • lol, good stuff Chris. Culi sure did launch with a pyrotechnics show!
  • Sam
    Yahoo's news search results are about the same:

    Cuil - News Results

    Why Cuil Is No Threat to Google Time... - Jul 28 03:38pm
    Ex-Google engineers debut 'Cuil' way to search AP via... - Jul 28 03:45pm
    Cuil Stumbles out of the Gate PC World... - Jul 28 03:00pm
  • Yeah, Yahoo! search and news search also included that listing about "no threat" at the top.

    But, a Google news search for cool does bring up a Cuil news article at #4.
    -Mike
  • Jeff
    Search is absolutely a battlefield. Propaganda my friends. I love the competitive nature of this type of creative strategy. Look at this unbelievable thing.... www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
  • News is *not* always first in a Google ranking when there is news.
  • BuBBy Oxide
    Does Cuil even work? All my searches yesterday resulted in Cuil whining that it was overloaded.

    Also, the name Cuil is going to be their downfall. Only about 2% of the population is going to be able to remember that let alone spell it. They flushed themselves down the crapper right out of the gate.
  • Yael
    That's funny, the first thing I had put on Cuil was Google...
    Well done on the #5!
  • Matt
    What's more frightening: Google killing Cuil, or Cuil succeeding?
  • Ironic that those results from Google give cause to wonder about google's search quality. It's hard to believe that this result was #4 - http://www.anses.gov.ar/cuil.htm. With all of the writing about Cuil recently, that page really deserves such high billing?
  • Matt
    @David - But it usually is.
  • LOL, I like how you came up as number 5. They must have saw your complaints about how your results came up when you tested your name on Cuil :-)
  • Cuil is the North Korea of search.
  • What's intriguing to me is to click through to the management team at http://www.cuil.com/info/management/. I see:

    *Strong technology focus on the part of the CEO, President, VP's of Engineering and Products
    *No Marketing focus per se. No VP Marketing, and VP Product has a technology rather than a marketplace focus. VP Communications has a good background in corporate comm, but that isn't a role that typically feeds back into product design and positioning.

    Would their debut have been different had 1) Marketing been empowered on an executive level, and 2) the positioning been more refined? 'The World's Biggest Search Engine' may be accurate in a technical sense, but in the marketplace it's not credible positioning. Kind of like saying Fatty Arbuckle was the 'Biggest Star Ever' - technically true but irrelevant to what we'd like the word 'biggest' to convey.
  • I searched the name of a somewhat obscure podcast with and without quotes. There are 200+ results for this found on Google, so it's well indexed and there are Facebook, twitter and other references to the name.

    ZERO (0) results appear on cuil.

    It looks pretty slick and maybe they're still ramping up, but when I search the web, I want to find the newest content for item or topic I'm searching. I'd have to agree that this story appearing as the top news result is relevant since the search is obviously inferior.

    (one guess as to who's podcast I was searching;)
  • Even better is searching cuil for cuil. Oh, the hilarity.
  • Hi Chris, if your question is "Did Google change its rankings or otherwise do anything different for Cuil?" then the answer is an emphatic no.

    As far as why your blog shows up at #5 when you search, perhaps you have personalized search on? To turn off personalized search, sign out from Google or add "&pws=0" to the end of your search url.
  • YOU rank high!

    Hey, why not hold a PODCAMP in Long Beach, CA?
    I'd love to promote that!
  • I think Cuil has a way to go and at this stage is not a threat or significant issue to Google. Let's not forget Google's built in audience that they developed with services ranging from Docs to Blogger.

    On a related issue, I just wrote about how far Cuil has to go (in my blog on blogger *rolls eyes at self*) in regards to their sorting and presentation of certain information.

    http://imprudentnecessities.blogspot.com/2008/0...
  • @KaRi - why don't YOU host one? That's the point. : )
  • Ryno
    Warfare! Look at how the big 4 internet companies are waging war right now!.... www.gothamtechminute.blogspot.com
  • What a fantastic title. :)
  • Google has pretty clear results http://www.cuil.com/search?q=google&sl=long

    At least I can find Google.
  • Because I'm still a wanna-be, Chris!
  • Armando G
    This is why I tend to go to Wikipedia first; although not the most difinitive (or unbiased) source, I often can get background on my topic before slupring off what the engines feed me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuil
  • This is interesting. I am curious as to why Cuil is getting this much publicity. They must be doing something right at the very least. There are all kinds of search engines starting up, some as simple as Cuil and some more fancy but this seems to be getting more attention for some reason.
    Not sure why, I checked it out... google still is at the top of the usability list for me.
  • TheSleepyGeek, great point on the high publicity. Most startup search engines claim to be doing something substantially different from Google; semantic search, clustered search, etc. That gets around the 'you can't compete with Google' reflex.

    Cuil's gotten a lot of pickup in press and blogosphere by the ballsy tactic of taking on Google headon. That gets pickup for the same reason I'd get response if I did a press release claiming I was going to fight Mike Tyson.
  • Google google bombs itself. That's a sense of humor if you ask me.
  • I haven't seen a clear positioning on why Cuil is better than Google. Why would I use Cuil over Google? Okay, they don't collect information, they have a nicer laid out results page and they use a different approach to the algorithm but I don't know what specific type of searches are better in Cuil than Google. Saying it's generally better doesn't help me and when I invariably test it out for myself doesn't set Cuil up for a good evaluation.
  • I was taught to only speak when I've got something nice to say so this is tricky, but are you really suggesting Google changed something so bad news about Cuil appears top? If so, that shows such a deep misunderstanding about how Google - and search engines generally - work, it's hard to know where to start...
  • Lack of a monopoly is healthy, if the new startup can pay dividends then maybe they can get along together. Did the C come from Google like Venom from Spiderman though? It could be breach of contract.
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