Cuil vs. Google
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008Google’s Algorithm knows what to do with competitors
You have to hand it to Google. On the one hand its spokesperson says, “Having great competitors is a huge benefit to us and everyone in the search space,” Watson said. “It makes us all work harder, and at the end of the day our users benefit from that.”
On the other hand, its algorithm really knows what to do with competitors. Look at the first search engine result for Cuil below and you will see what I mean.
Google’s algorithm proves itself. Out of 1,550,000 results it picks the best one (from Google’s point of view) to be number one
In the end I agree with Google’s spokesperson – competition is healthy. Google has the advantage, with years of human algorithm analysis (labels, years of search data, human review of results, etc.) It will be interesting to see if Cuil can prove to be a competitor.
Google vs. Cuil Search Engine Results
Although a comprehensive test comparing Google to Cuil is needed, a few searches can point out many qualitative differences. In a search for mens shoes, Cuil offers refined search ideas on tabbed pages along the top and a drop down menu labeled “more…’. There’s also an Explore by Category window, which can be helpful.
Cuil results page has more options for refining search than Google.
By contrast, Google’s results are not as rich. There are no tabs with refined search options to choose from.
Google’s results page for men’s shoes has no refined search options
Comparing the top 10 Cuil and Google results, only 2 web sites are in both SERPs. Notice that Google sometimes links to interior pages while Cuil always links to the home page on this particular search. This may be a hint that Cuil tends to prefer web sites with the search term on the home page. Or that they analyze a site whereas Google has more of a tendency to analyze a page.
The main question is whose results are best? For a commodity item like shoes I prefer the Cuil results which help me refine my search. Listing stores isn’t enough for me. Ideally a search engine would show me the top stores that I prefer but this is way beyond their capabilities now. They don’t evaluate service, selection, shipping terms, etc..
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Cuil |
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www.overstock.com/Clothing/Mens-Shoes/657/cat.html www.shoes.com/ www.shoebuy.com/mens-shoes.htm www.shoebuy.com/ www.amazon.com/Mens-Shoes-Apparel/b?ie=UTF8&node=1045744 www.zappos.com/mens.zhtml www.payless.com/ www.aldoshoes.com/ www.onlineshoes.com/ www.bizrate.com/mensshoes/ |
www.shoes.com/ www.payless.com/ www.solelyshoes.com/ www.shoedeals4u.com/ www.aldenshop.com/ www.shoes.co.uk/ www.mensusa.com/ www.grapevinehill.com/ shoes-gallery.com/ www.6pm.com/ www.01shoes.com/ |
Cuil vs. Google SERPs in order of results. Only two results appear in the top 10 for both engines.
Google’s “Refine Results” vs. Cuil menu, tabs and categories
Although Cuil provides more refined search suggestions more often, Google’s “Refine Results” for Uterine Fibroids outshines Cuil’s tabs and catagories. Treatments, Causes, Tests, For patients, For health professionals and others are all useful categories.
Google’s refined search options for uterine fibroids
One thing that most certainly helps Google here is the labels provided by volunteers. For example, if you search on uterine fibroids and then click on the Treatment refined search, many of the results are labeled as you can see in the screen shot below.
Google’s refined search results labeled by MLA – Medical Library Association and HON – Health On The Net Foundation
By contrast, Cuils catagories appear less relevant. This is probably because Google’s input makes use of human input (based on their label system), while Cuil seems to be using algorithms. Only an algorithm can get you circumcision as a relevant link for a woman’s medical condition (see screen shot below).
Cuil’s explore by category offers circumcision on a search for uterine fibroids
Cuil is the search engine with the best sense of humor
When I search for SEO Israel, the first spot is our company choir singing a funny SEO song on Metacafe. What is really funny is that they linked to the Hebrew version instead of the English SEO song.
What I really love about Cuil is that our company takes the top spot in all 3 columns. Now all I have to do is convince everyone to use Cuil and I will have it made.
Cuil gives my internet marketing company the top spot on all 3 columns – what’s not to like? Click to enlarge
