[xirium]

Cuill ( http://www.cuill.com/ ) and Powerset ( http://www.powerset.com/ ) are both contenders to make a better search engine. Cuill assumes that you can make a comparable search system more efficiently. Powerset assumes that more pertinent results have higher value. Scalability isn't an issue for Cuill. Cuill's president is Anna Paterson, who is partly responsible for Google's scalability.

Anyhow, Cuill and Powerset both have scope to make systems which are more efficient and could therefore be supported by less intrusive advertising. The switch from AltaVista to Google was influenced by the intrusiveness of advertising. Perhaps this consideration would inflence a subsequent transistion.