On Monday, the Cuil (pronounced “cool”) search engine was finally launched. And since it has been developed by ex-Googlers, it was bound to be compared to Google. But with an impressive index of more than 120 billion web pages, it still needs a lot of work if it wants to beat Google.

The basic interface of Cuil is quite simple with a black background, Cuil Logo and the search box. The search form also returns typing suggestions for the words you type. It displays results in a unique fashion. Instead of a list, the results are displayed in columns with the option to choose between 2/3 column display. The top right spot is reserved to show related searches by category which can be viewed my moving over it with a mouse.

However, one thing it lacks is the relevancy of the search results, I tried a few searches and for some topics the results were good and for some, it was bad. And the images which it displays along with the search are most of the time un related to the search. It received a lot of publicity on its launch and hence faced a lot of downtime on its opening day. One of the reasons for a lot of publicity was the fact that behind it are ex Googlers.

My Verdict

One thing I love about Cuil is its interface, I don’t know why but somehow it attracts me. Other than that it is an ordinary search engine. My experience with it was not extraordinary. I don’t think it is currently ready to challenge Google. But I do feel that it has got a lot of potential. But it will have to improve its quality of the search results if it wants to make a mark.