With the recent popularity of Google and other major search engines, it seems like many people still feel they can break into the market and offer a “better mousetrap.” Opinions vary on this subject, with many people claiming that companies are just trying to jump on the search bandwagon while it’s hot, and others defending the right to be innovative and come up with a good competing product.
A thread over at Cre8asite Forums discusses one particular search engine, Sensis, and its attempts to provide a better online directory. Apparently the parent company Telstra is very well known to Australians, having developed a sort of infamy, based on the article cited in the Cre8asite post. Could the underlying cause for Sensis/Telstra’s problems be the past history related to state ownership, or is it simply a "dog?"
What this thread gets at is very important to those Google-wannabes out there, and some great points are made about basic flaws in this particular system which makes it less likely that a user would return.
A thread similar in topic to this can also be found at SEW, where someone asked about starting a search engine and got some good answers and guidance.
Here is the Cre8asite thread.
Here is the SEW thread.