Can Cuil rule the [search engine] roost?
I always feel that it’s a little unfair to judge a website by its first week out of the gate. Having start-up experience myself, I can understand how hard it is to launch a website, deal with exaggerated traffic, and the typical glitches that come with the territory.
With a little over a week of operation under this potential Google-killer’s belt, I thought it was time for me to weigh in on Cuil.com.
Like most sites aiming to be more 3.0, Cuil revels in the less is more homepage. With a simple black background with blue and grey accents, the typical search form is present. One major thing I noticed was the switch in color after you type in a query. That is, the site shifts from a black background to white containing search results. Google, Yahoo and MSN Live Search take a more visually cohesive route offering a white to white turnover.
Another big difference is the stacking of search results. I am not sure if this is a new website trend, but Cuil delivers information horizontally. In an earlier blog post about new micro-blogging site Plurk, I also noted this flip in expression. Personally, I like my content vertical and linear based. I think trying to get people to get into a different allocation of web real estate is a challenge for any user.