Sorry Singapore, That's Not Enough Scratch
January 18, 2008
$100K as the prize for building a new search engine? Sorry, that's not gonna get it done...
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Reader Jeremy Writes: [Yahoo] couldn't get off the crack pipe...the Paid Inclusion model. It failed *everywhere*. [It] still can't get off the crack.
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Perfect for that person with everything: Order 'The Search
Yup, it makes the perfect gift for that officemate or colleague who you thought had everything....including you! If you order here, I promise to sign it, assuming we can figure out the shipping...
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Comments
One never knows where a good idea is coming from - or if it is already in progress
The person who wins the 100k could already be working on it as part of a PHD as sees this as an opportunity to get additional funding.
Also, everyone now has the advantages of learing from the strengths and weaknesses of the current top search engines.
The original Google probably did not cost 100k
John,
I used your book extensively in my paper on Google. I do agree with you and I have reasons supporting your statement coming from a local Singaporean point of view.
http://uniquefrequency.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/singapore-in-the-google-race/
Daryl Tay
Singapore Management University
Singapore
Actually, I think offering a moderate amount of prize money for this type of thing makes A LOT of sense. Of course, you have to be realistic about what to expect, but having such competitions say a few times a year could really help in developing the right kind of start-up culture in Singapore, and could really motivate students to give it a try. Certainly a much smarter investment than the European idea of pouring hundreds of millions into Quaero and similar harebrained schemes.
I think it was not about building a new search engine. The contest was just a disguise to promote the opening of Fusionpolis and to attract researchers to work in Singapore.
No, you can't build a useful search engine for US$100,000 - Google forbids it!
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