Ask HN: Why aren't there more Google Search competitors?
Because it's close to impossible. To compete with Google in its primary business of search/advertising you must
1) be much better at it, or no one will switch
2) have enough money for the equipment to handle the crazy amounts of traffic
3) have enough money for the engineers to build all that
You have to realize how huge and fast google already is. You make a post/comment on Reddit, it's in the search results within minutes.
What features would it take for you to switch from Google? Even if some giant like Apple would spend billions and launch a search engine, how many non-apple users would use it? My guess is - not that many. Google has become a verb. "Just google it".
As far as I can see, you can beat google in some niches, like DuckDuckGo that rides on the wave of privacy.
"no one will switch" - agreed on cent percent. If i switch to bing, I feel uncomfortable, something in me asking to google it. this happens may be due to my habit?. I guess, google's competitor may come from startup's (not from big companies) that too happen after couple of decades.
Because search engines are a winner takes all market. There is no reason for anyone to use the second best search engine and so there will be a tendency for everyone to migrate to the best one. Plus they are now the incumbent so you would really need a new search engine that is significantly better for people to notice and start switching.
Google is also vastly better at monetizing search than its competitors. Revenue per search at Bing or Yahoo is just a fraction of what Google makes. That is what makes their advantage permanent.
I always wondered if Bing gave away $1M a day in a sweepstakes to it's users if people would switch.
another idea would be a shopping engine with the guaranteed lowest prices. since your not paying as much per click sell at a lower price.
You can be Google mini competitor ;) Join to bubblehunt.com - this is search engine for your information
In what - search? Maps? Mobile? You could be a bit more specific.