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New Search Engine Won't Delete Google

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 9, 2009 4:53 PM CDT

(Newser) – A British math whiz plans to roll out a revolutionary search engine this year, but that doesn't mean Google is doomed, Saul Hansell writes in the New York Times. “Google is a company,” while the search engine "is a technology," Hansell writes, responding to a blog that trumpeted the innovation. The new engine would answer specific questions on the Web, rather than find sites that give answers.

Google, like Microsoft, may not always have the best technology, Hansell admits, but as industry leaders they're hard to topple. “When a technology start-up begins to do well, it is like a snowball rolling downhill, as technology, packaging, marketing, sales, customers, developers, brand reputation and a lot of luck bind together to create momentum that then feeds on itself.”

[Images (9)]

[Quotes (1)]

Google Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt. (AP Photo)

Google Maps. (AP Photo)

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. (AP Photo)

Google co-founders Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page. (AP Photo)

Google signs shown inside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Monday, Oct. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

In this Oct. 11, 2007 file photo, visitors look at an information screen at the International Frankfurt Book Fair. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, file)

Google Technology Director Craig Silverstein, who was Google's first employee, stands in Mountain View, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

In this Sept. 25, 2007 file photo, a visitor passes a Google exhibition in Duesseldorf, western Germany. (AP Photo/Rene Tillmann, file)

Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page, right, Sergey Brin, left, and software engineer Darin Fisher, center, talk during a news conference at Google Inc. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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Sergey Brin and Larry Page didn't know how their nice little pellet of technology would roll downhill picking up one of the best business models and most powerful brands the world has ever seen. - Saul Hansell

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