New Search Engine Won't Delete Google

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.” (More Google stories.)