I tried Cuil for the very first time today and I must say... as much as I wanted to be impressed, I really was not.   Cuil isn't, como se dice.... "Cool".

I really like the name, intellectually, as it is slightly esoteric in that the word is Gaelic for "knowledge" and is pronounced "kewl" or "cool"... so it's hip, it's happening... it's forgettable.  Unfortunately, for Cuil, it just doesn't have the same venacular inducing ring that Google or Yahoo! have... and well... Ask is pretty straight forward... doesn't top that.

Cuil claims to index 3x more pages than Google and 10x more pages than Microsoft... yet, when running searches on Cuil, I was unable to return relevant information.   I read somewhere that Cuil collected about 33 million in startup... and I think part of that is due to investors trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice.  It really seems that Google's alumni are really superior at being able to raise money... and sure, rightfully so on some fronts.  Google is the standard bearer of success these days.  Working for Google is the professional equivalent of going to Harvard.

I don't like the columns.  Sure, it LOOKS like you get more on one page, but it isn't intuitive browsing... Up... down.... left... up...down... left...up... down... click next page.  'Eh eh!! Not gonna do it! Read my lips...' it's painful. 

I do like the tabs on the top, the search by category could be useful if they were a little more inclusive and diverse and the rollover isn't bad when it actually works... but that is about where it ends.

Some of you might LOVE Cuil and want to say "What chu talkin' 'bout, Anthony?"  Well Arnold, let's do a few searches for fun... starting with something we ALL know and love... AbleNET IRC Network.   Try it a few times, you might not get it.  Also, see how it isn't on the categories?  Yet, our site is 100% SEO optimized (Seriously, check it) and it has keywords out The Great Gazoo.

When searching for AbleNET IRC, I had to look on the second page for results.  When searching for AbleNET.org I was then told there were no results, when I resubmitted my search, I was returned results with logo images from OTHER sites.




For giggles, I also decided to do a search on their domain, cuil.com... They couldn't find relevant data http://www.cuil.com/search?q=cuil.com&sl=long



Ok, so let me try to be a little more fair... let's search the Cuil search engine for "cuil search engine" I mean come on... they've GOT  to get THAT ONE right... yeah? Nope.




Oh well... I did a search for Google and well... That works!  Thank goodness for that!! 

As much as I love competition for the betterment of the industry, Cuil doesn't have what it takes at this time to shake things up enough to change the way we think about searching the internet.  Cuil reminds me of the 'Internet 1.0'.  A couple pals hanging out, getting together and trying to recreate a new flavor for a tried formula of success.  If I had to predict the future, my guess is that Cuil does a holding pattern and hopes that with any luck, some other media company like Microsoft or News Corp. will come along and make them an offer for 3x their investment, in an effort to make up for the ground they've lost pursuing Yahoo! and get a better piece of the market, thusly  making a alot of people very rich.

 So never fear, my dear Google... at the moment you are still the Masters of the Universe as far as Internet searching is concerned... The battle at this point is very likely yours to lose and Cuil is a dish best served cold.