The coolness of Cuil: Reviews mixed for new search engine

Just how cool is Cuil? It depends whom you ask, as folks either love the new Internet search engine (www.cuil.com) or they hate it.

I wrote last week about Cuil (pronounced "cool"), inviting readers to share their take on the search engine that pledges site relevancy over sheer volume of items in a search results listing. It seems that sometimes Cuil is spot-on and other times it misses the mark by miles.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Reader Pennie Grajek of Mesquite writes: "I will stick with Google. That site (Cuil) is awful. Search for 'Mesquite, Nevada' and you get nothing. If you follow the drop down (menu) to 'Mesquite NV,' you get foreign languages and articles that make absolutely no sense."

I replicated Grajek's search and found that with some tweaks, the official tourism site (www.visitmesquite.com) was the first return. I got this when I typed "Mesquite Nevada" into Cuil with no quotation marks in the search entry.

Andy Alberti sent a long list of likes and dislikes about Cuil. These include: "Disappointed in the small number of returned search items per page due to amount of information that is displayed.

"One-line results would be preferred. Then a click to expand prior to opening the full Web site if desired.

"Did not find the results even close to the search request in many instances. Would be very interested in their search criteria.

"Like the search term suggestion list."

Reader John T. Bear of Las Vegas pointed out Cuil's inability to return his business site. A search for "John T. Bear" with quotes on Google, however, shows Bear's site as the No. 1 item.

Bear also takes exception to the display options on Cuil. "On Google I can get 100 items vertically stacked at a time. Quickly looking them over for the right result. Cuil does not give me an option to choose how I want them displayed or the number of returns per page.

"So, I will continue to hope a better, less commercial, search engine becomes available. Write me when you find it," he said.

Users do have some control over the Cuil display by clicking the "2 column" or "3 column" link at the bottom-right of a results page.

An unidentified reader with the e-mail moniker of PBDesign1 loves Cuil. "Best search engine I have ever used," he writes, without giving details to support the claim.

Margi Mark writes: "I love it! Cuts to the chase, saved me tons of time, pinpointed my search. Your article came just in time -- have a project deadline I may have been unable to meet using that other search engine.

"Cuil is my new best friend."

Let's continue the dialogue on my Tidbits blog (www.reviewjournal.com/blogs/onlineguy).

Share your Internet story with me at agibes@reviewjournal.com.