KozurujpgRemember when I predicted that there would be a company claiming to be the new Google every month or so this year? I was wrong. It's more like every two weeks, and it's either the new Google, or the "Google of" (insert vertical here - travel, shopping, etc.).

Latest to get the spin is Kozuru, which just got three million dollars and is based in Kansas. They plan to take the natural language approach to search and are basing their stuff on structured taxonomies in the English language - in other words, the dictionary and the encyclopedia. I dunno...

When I saw Jeff Weiner yesterday, he mentioned that he thought we'd see a lot more small companies getting snatched up by larger ones, once the small ones proved their merit (as Fare Chase has, by the way). I'm not going to get the quotes right, but he said something to the effect that "If you're a great chef, you need a great kitchen to cook in." Three million dollars ain't gonna buy a lot of Viking stoves, but it's a start.

(Thanks Gary and Tara)