Well, only about a week after I posted the article about Cuil, and to be fair so did everyone else… it seems as though the much-vaunted, and hugely-hyped Cuil Search Engine has slid back in relative obscurity. Not totally gone mind you, but the “Search Engine World’s” pecking order has been officially re-established, with Google assuming its undaunted role as top of the search pile…
The online research and marketing company, Hitwise, has confirmed that after Cuil’s initial launch which caused the sites ranking and traffic to spike dramatically to around 106 (in most trafficked sites), over the past week or two the traffic has dropped off quite dramatically… down to 1034th in traffic and to number 34 in terms of Search Engines… So yes, I suppose one could say Cuil has almost come and gone…
Cuil’s impact was noted however, buoyed by a lot of media spend on traditional as well as online channels, as well as a HUGE amount of online buzz marketing, Cuil has shown the world that it is possible to take a “pot” at the mighty Google. Granted it’s going to take a large amount of money, technology and some serious “balls”, but even having all these factors in place, it is still a HUGE ask, so maybe we are just going to have to leave it to the seriously BIG players to slug it out (read: Microsoft)…
Must say, it is kind of sad that the hype has died and Cuil is just back to being one of those “other search engines”, the world of search was just starting to get interesting again…
