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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010
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 OPINION 
11

One Non-Profit Should Index the Internet

It would make things faster for everyone

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(Newser) – The Internet would be faster for everyone if a single, non-profit entity maintained a search index, writes Tom Foremski. Privately owned search engines use enormous resources to build their proprietary indexes, and sites use tons of bandwidth to answer their queries. On Foremski's Silicon Valley Watcher, for example, search robots/spiders accounted for 45% of the bandwidth.

Google, Bing, and the others could still offer unique value because their results reflect the sophistication of their rankings and analysis. Google's founders supported the idea of an indexing non-profit in their Stanford days. Larry Page "was very adamant about search engines not being owned by commercial entities," recalls Andrei Broder, the founder of Altavista. "He said it should all be done by a nonprofit. I guess Larry has changed his mind about that."

This 2008 file photo shows Google co-founders Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page.
This 2008 file photo shows Google co-founders Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)
Having a single search engine would speed up the Internet.
Having a single search engine would speed up the Internet.   (Shutter Stock)
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11 comments
VIEWING:
 
DontLikeYou
Nov 25, 09 3:29 PM CST
Sounds just like something a liberal would want to do, give control over all information on the internet to ONE single powerful organization. Imagine how easy it would be to control people then, libs! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
-7
IN RESPONSE:
Face-Of-RNC
Nov 25, 09 3:33 PM CST
Hey, conservative brain trust, it's ATT and other of your precious corporations trying to hog the internet. It's the liberals trying to maintain internet neutrality, or by now it would have already happened.
Vote up! Vote down!
+3
IN RESPONSE:
Yourself
Nov 25, 09 3:45 PM CST
how this became a liberal vs conservative issue is beyond me, other then the fact that "libs" are the ones being progressive about net-neutrality, and conservatives are being moronic about the issue. With that said, a "non-profit" index would never work, cause people will continue to use the "for-profit" sites seeing as they'll continually push the envelope of searching and results.
Vote up! Vote down!
+5
IN RESPONSE:
Reader64481089
Nov 25, 09 3:46 PM CST
Face, your attempting to educate the brain dead and a waste of time attempting to educate a waste of space. It is to large a leap for this one to understand that is Net Neutrality doesn't win out then the corporations will limit how fast you can access data and decide what you can or can't view even if you pay.... That one is a total lost cause which explains why he is Republican
Vote up! Vote down!
+3
IN RESPONSE:
2-bits
Nov 25, 09 4:10 PM CST
DLY: Does it bother you that your followers can't tell the difference between parody you and the real you?
Vote up! Vote down!
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