Search Service Will Answer Questions Google Can't

Though not intended to dethrone the search king, Wolfram Alpha will compete for clicks

By Clay Dillow, Newser Staff

Posted May 11, 2009 8:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – WolframAlpha, a powerful new Web service that can answer a vast array of questions, has already answered one: No, it is not intended to dethrone Google. The site’s creator, scientist and entrepreneur Stephen Wolfram, is “not keen on the hype,” but others believe WolframAlpha could be a game-changer, the New York Times reports. “There is a huge space of possible questions that Google doesn’t answer,” one search company exec said.

Unlike traditional search engines, WolframAlpha does not search the Web, but rather uses complex algorithms to scan a database of information amassed by the company’s researchers. As such, it can produce the average body mass index of a 40-year-old male, but cannot produce movie times. The available answers will evolve over time as more data are organized. The site, wolframalpha.com, should be available to the public within a week.

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WolframAlpha.com, which is set to open to the public this week, will answer a vast array of questions traditional search engines cannot. (wolframalpha.com)

Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone displays the look of the company's new search engine. Traditional search engines scan the Web for answers. WolframAlpha will rely on its own data to answer tougher queries. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

In this Oct. 27, 2008 file photo, Google logos are shown inside Google HQ in Mountain View, Calif. Google will lay off 200 as the recession squeezes even the Internet's most profitable company. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

Google workers staff a booth in San Francisco, Sept. 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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Search Service Will Answer Questions Google Can't