Google
is keeping a close eye on a small, suburban Melbourne start-up that claims
to be developing a search engine that improves on the world leader.
MyLiveSearch is
fundamentally different in the way that it works. Google's search engine works
by building a vast index of web pages, via automated "spiders" that crawl
through billions of web pages a year. However this represents only a fraction of
the enormous, sprawling internet, and the index can never be entirely up to
date. Yahoo! search and (despite its name) Microsoft's Live search work the same
way. MyLiveSearch is fundamentally different. It works through a small browser
plug-in. The search terms are put through Google, or other indexed search
databases, but those results are treated as "starting points" alongside the
user's bookmarks and other popular web hubs. From there, the live search takes
over, crawling through hundreds of web pages connected to those starting points
in search of more information relevant to the search.
Well, it looks like a filter plugin for Google. It basically does a google search for the search terms, browses the results with its own crawler in real-time, then reinterprets the results and passes them on to the searcher.Of course, the concept of using each client computer as a crawler is an interesting one. However, Google could easily implement it into their Google Toolbar for much better results and integration. What do you think?