Which 1,400 search engines do you use?
Okay, sharpen your keyboards, and get ready to search. Which of the 1,400 top search engines do you use?
What? You only use Google? Pfeh! You mainstream, conformist, follower. (Use Yahoo? Don’t gloat, it’s not exactly “indy.”)
By industry estimates, there’s over 1,400 search engines floating around these days. Really. Here’s the Top 100 Alternative Search Engines.
And that doesn’t even include http://www.cuil.com, which recently launched. (It’s pronounced “cool.” Yes, really.)
Some of the others have equally creative names like ChaCha.com, Twerq.com, Twingly.com, Famhoo.com, and Mahalo.com.
So why so many search engines? Well, most engines have highly specialized search parameters. That’s a fancy way of saying that they narrow searches to a specialized audience.
Again, so why so many search engines? Well, if you’re Summarize.com, it’s for profit. Twitter.com bought the Twitter-only search engine Summarize.com for a cool $15M.
Search is big business and it’s getting bigger. Hey, I have a great idea. How about a personal search engine for everyone in the world? I’ll make billions!
What? Oh yeah, they already have that at Rollyo.com.
That’s clever web-speak for “Roll Your Own.” Oh…how cuil.
Why Newspapers Are Doomed
Newspapers aren’t dead yet. Despite the steady declines in circulation and ad sales, many newspapers continue to hang on. And yet, they are inevitably doomed.
Here’s a few reasons why:
1. Local reporting. Many news websites focus on national stories. Big stuff. But the local newspaper give us useful reporting on local issue. Small stuff, like flooding, taxes, and school events.
CNN doesn’t cover your neighborhood unless it’s a major news event, like a catastrophe or a tragedy. Either way, you don’t want to be in the news at that time.
2. Pictures. If you compared today’s paper with one from 10 years ago, you’d notice something important. That is, there are a lot of news wire photos. Lots of celebrities. Lots of people you dont actually know.
Wanna know why? Photographers cost money.
As newspapers rely more on news wire photos — stuff you can see anywhere — they lose a connection with the local community.
3. In Depth Reporting. Like Local Reporting, in depth reporting was the cornerstone of newspaper journalism. TV gave you the headlines, but newspapers gave you the full story. A good newspaper might offer sidebars, editorials, and illustrations.
My local newspaper has won many prestigious awards for investigative journalism. Big exposes about local corruption and news events. Information on a local level. You cant get that from a journalist-blogger conducting an interviews over email.
And yet, local newspapers cede control to online journalists and bloggers every time they run a canned story from the news wire.
About the News Wire. Take a look at your local newspaper again. Check to see who wrote that story. If it says Associated Press or another service, it means your newspaper bought that story (probably through a subscription).
Newswire stories are a cheap way to fill space. But they also cheapen the true value of the newspaper.
A canned story satisfies a short-term goal of making a profit, since it’s cheaper to buy a story than to create one in house. But these are temporary solutions further weaken newspapers.
If newspapers continue along this path, they are surely doomed.
Here’s a Related Story: Why Comic Book Publishing is Doomed
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