“Snapping” the reigns from Google

• January 3rd, 2007 /
•  Blake Killian

When you’re on top, the only place you can go is down, and for some time now, people have been speculating on the inevitable demise of Google. I am not one of those people. I see Google as the powerhouse it is. I am also something of a conspiracy theorist, so I’m always suspicious that Google is creating some dread Matrix behind the scenes where one day we will all be forced to plug into Google, or go cold and hungry. Although I am certain that Google isn’t going anywhere for a while (for a lifetime), I do think there’s room in my daily search routine for another player.

Notice I said player and not competitor. After all, we played in search a little bit with Huckabuck, and we learned a lot. In the end, it will take something incredibly cool, innovative, competent and scalable to compete with Google, and this morning I found an engine that may do just that.

Let me start by saying that Snap is cool. The interface is nice, but a little cluttered, and the results, for now, are ok. I am willing to invest a little time into these results even though they’re not perfect because of the way they are displayed. You get to preview most sites from the results page without having to click through to the site. So, I can use my down arrow key and jump from result to result in a snap (geez).

I also like that I feel like I have some control over my search. I don’t have to take Google’s word for it. For example, I searched for my name and quickly told Snap which results I thought were perfect and which I thought were junk. Now the only question remains was I answering that question for myself, or for the Snap community as a whole?

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