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0 pointsAlienRobot2mo ago0 comments

To me, a lot of problems with "building a search engine" don't seem to be problems with "building a search engine," they seem to be problems with "building a Google."

Nobody said a search engine needs to have fresh data, for example. Nor has anybody said a search engine needs to index the entire web. Yet these are two things every search engine tries to do, and then they usually fail to compare with Google.

To put it in another way, the reason why TikTok succeeded against Youtube is exactly because TikTok wasn't trying to be a Youtube.

0 comments

Nextgrid2mo ago

I don't think TikTok "succeeded" compared to Youtube? TikTok succeeded in popularizing short-form video, but I'd argue that's a different product. YouTube is still king for longform video.

While there might be arguments for building a different product (and LLM-based search like Perplexity is trying it), there appears to be enough demand for a "good Google" that Kagi is trying to address.

direwolf202mo ago

If the product is long-form video then sure... but if the product is user attention? Film camera companies still make the best film cameras, but is the product film cameras or is it taking photos?

terribleperson2mo ago

I'll say that a search engine needs to have fresh data. When I search for a phrase from a reddit thread I saw earlier, I want that exact thread to be in the results.

When I search for a brand new restaurant, I want to see a map entry for that restaurant and a link to a newspaper article, ad, or facebook post announcing the opening of that restaurant (though I probably won't click on the third).

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