New search engine Cuil takes aim at Google

A startup founded by engineers from Google Inc. and other tech giants is launching a search engine that claims to cover three times as many Web pages as Google.

The startup, Cuil Inc., plans to launch its product Monday and aims to deliver better results than other major search engines by searching across more Web pages and studying them more accurately.

The site's results page resembles an online magazine -- a different look and feel from search juggernaut Google's.

"You can't be an alternative search engine and smaller," said Anna Patterson, Cuil co-founder and president, and one of the engineers who helped build Google's search index. "You have to be an alternative and bigger."

Cuil, based in Menlo Park, Calif., is the most recent in a long string of search-engine startups to try to take on Google in an industry that has been difficult for even giants like Microsoft Corp. to crack.

Many have tried to compete by focusing on particular areas, such as searching images or allowing users to review and edit results. Many of these Google challengers have crumbled after failing to build enough scale to support their growth through advertising; a few others have been acquired by larger players.

In addition to looking at the popularity of a Web page, Cuil also analyzes the concepts on the page and their relationships -- grouping similar results under different menus. A Cuil search for "Bruce Springsteen," for example, pulls up a section for results on the artist and a section for results pertaining to tickets.

Cuil eventually plans to make money through advertising, although the service won't display any ads at launch.

Cuil said it won't collect personal information about its users, such as the addresses of their computers and their individual search histories -- although it does track the terms people search for overall.