Comments on: WolframAlpha – Not a Google Killer

By: anon

anon — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:44:31 +0000

“WolframAlpha – Not a Google Killer”

CONGRATULATIONS CAPTAIN OBVIOUS

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:52:08 +0000

Reading all the comments on Wolfa Alpha has made me realize people tend to only write comments so that they can leave a link to another article on the topic. This is great & all but it leads to endless reading on wolfa of the same exact thing over and over again. I’m glad ur article has provided a new outlook on the topic.

By: Future of Search Engine – Google, Twitter, WolframAlfa « Nitesh Ambuj

Future of Search Engine – Google, Twitter, WolframAlfa « Nitesh Ambuj — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:19:29 +0000

[...] though going in details of this discussion gives a different view. Check out an article on this here. Google still dominates the search engine market though the monopoly is not going to last for a [...]

By: Larry Zinox

Larry Zinox — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:32:35 +0000

Excellent explanation of how WA moves things in a new direction. There is a solid place for more analytical tools where market may be smaller and more inert but important none the less. WA is a great teaching tool as well.

By: Allison Goldberg

Allison Goldberg — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:02:25 +0000

While it might not be a Google Killer, it definitely might change how users search for academic type questions. Since it went live, I have been playing around with the search engine and am very impressed with the answers I have received.

Check out my blog post today: http://www.getupdatedinternetmarketing.com/2009/05/wolframalpha-is-live/

By: hannes

hannes — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:36:14 +0000

“Each of these individuals represents something completely different and unique on the Internet. None of them are going about looking at the same data.”

Thank you for this one. Here in Germany, there is a lot of media stuff talking about the Google Killer without even knowing wolframalpha doesnt want to be one. Unfortunately, “Google” is such a buzz word these times, they do not want to provide some premium kind of information..

(sorry for english, hope you’ll understand me.. )

By: Search Engine Marketing News - May 4, 2009

Search Engine Marketing News - May 4, 2009 — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:06:54 +0000

[...] (see related: WolframAlpha Not a Google Killer) [...]

By: greg

greg — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:04:24 +0000

Thanks for all the great comments everyone. Nice to see some level headed and real consideration going into what the ramifications of this this new search engine will be.

I think the real uses will come out of understanding what Tony explained above. That the intent of the engine is different and therefore the reasons for and returns on similar queries will yield such different information. Those differences will determine how this technology plays into our lives.

By: Eric Logan

Eric Logan — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:45:53 +0000

I actually appreciate your argument here. Third party development have the potential to transform Wolfram/Alpha in the same way that it transformed Twitter. Here is a review I wrote with screen shots of some actual queries. Key West News as curated by Wolfram/Alpha. http://ff.im/-2K4ny

By: Tony Shaw

Tony Shaw — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:07:54 +0000

Greg,

I agree with your overall conclusion…Alpha is not a Google-killer. It’s purpose is quite different. Alpha is focused on queries that require or benefit from some degree of data analysis, rather than broad web text searches. For example, if you searched Alpha for “$15 per hour”, you’ll get responses that tell you what $15 per hour comes to as an annual wage, or what the equivalent of US$15/hour is in the currencies of British pounds or Japanese Yen. If you do the same search on Google you’ll get a list of jobs advertised for $15 per hour. Same search, completely different responses, both of which are potentially useful if you know what your objective is and use the appropriate service.

The other thing is that Alpha does not search the web. It queries a very large set of data which is “curated” by the Wolfram folks, plus some trusted external sources for certain real-time data such as stock quotes, weather data, etc. So Alpha can almost never be as current as Google or any other search engine which is constantly combing the web for new information. Many folks see this as a limiting factor for Alpha – how can it scale if everything is curated by one organization – but if it is useful enough for it’s intended purpose (most facts don’t change constantly) then it can still be very successful for users, and as a business.

But I agree – forget this silly “Google-killer” stuff. This is not coming from the Wolfram folks themselves, but merely from over-excited, under-informed writers and analysts looking for dramatic angles on the story.

Tony Shaw

PS: As you know, there was a very good piece on Alpha from Doug Lenat published in our journal Semantic Universe at:

http://www.semanticuniverse.com/blogs-doug-lenat-i-was-positively-impressed-wolfram-alpha.html