If you try to visit www.searchme.com today, don’t bother: you’ll be redirected to Google instead. Apparently, the positive media coverage (including one of my articles on SitePoint) did not help the Sequoia Capital funded startup to get a new round of financing.
CEO Randy Adams wrote a letter to Michael Arrington, where he explains the reasons for taking the site down:
We knew when we started the company that to compete with the likes of Microsoft, Google and Yahoo,it was going to take at least $100 million, half to build the back end across thousands of servers and half to get distribution (maybe more with Microsoft spending $100 million on Bing advertising alone). What we didn’t plan on was the terrible downturn in the economy which made it impossible to raise another $50 million to get distribution (mainly through toolbar deals).
CEO Adams is obviously very naïve if he thinks that $100 million is enough to compete with the likes of Microsoft and Google. I was pretty enthusiastic about searchme.com myself, but attempting to compete with the search giants with a “visual search engine” is unrealistic: while pretty to look at, a visual search engine, as refined as it may be, will probably never become too popular online, because the users need information more than they need pretty pictures.
Searchme.com raised around $44 million in venture capital, a stunning number for a startup that allegedly copied http://search.spacetime.com/ . If Searchme.com ever manages to get another round of funding, I hope they will rethink their strategy and, instead of trying to compete with Google, they will actually try to attract a more plausible audience: the iPhone users.
this is a great application i think lots of iphone addicts have this kind of apps already
BRILLIANT analysis… I couldn’t understand for the life of me HOW a “visual” search engine made sense – until I used an iPhone.
Talk about a “close but no cigar” moment in target audience selection – this was it. Instead of competing with Google – Search.me could have OWNED iPhone users!!!
If that was the target, 44 Million probably would have taken them where they wanted to go.
.-= Kathy | Virtual Impax´s last blog ..Customer Service in the Age of Social Media =-.
I like how you can “preview” the site before you click. and the more you type the narrower the results get. great video and app.
I agree. The “preview” feature is great. I have it for my iPhone and its responsive and works wondrefully. Keep up the good posting.
.-= Deb´s last blog ..The Truth About Taking Online Surveys For Cash =-.
I think thay can succes if they try to be big as google or yahoo
It is really bad to read your article about Searchme. I simply liked the concept and the look of the visual search engine. Well I must agree with you when you said CEO Adams is pretty naive to believe he can compete with the likes of Google, Msn and yahoo with 100 million dollars. The planning simply was not there at all.
What is more worrying is we require new ideas to hit the internet. But the ideas however refreshing, fails in the planning part.
Mig, thanks for the head up. No wonder, every time when I used the searchme in my iphone to search something, it always redirected to Google main search site! You’ve finally unveiled the secret…
Google is really big. I don’t think any search engine is going to survive. We could think about Bing for a while now since tie up with yahoo and the New version of IE 8 coming up with default search engine as Bing and 80% people using Windows as OS .. things might turn in favor of Bing.. who know.. It might be beginning of the end of Google. The dominance might be over.
.-= FastFoodCoupons´s last blog ..Where to Find Fast Food Coupons? =-.
Yeah 100 million is not much in the grand scheme of things. market penetration alone will cost 100 million never mind the actual implementation.
.-= Nick Stamoulis´s last blog ..Is SEO Getting Harder? =-.
It may be some time before anyone can compete with Google. They have a pretty strong hold on the search business domination.
.-= Jon´s last blog ..EDMONDS PIZZA DELIVERY =-.
Another search engine down thats bad, It seems one by one those small time search engines starts to fall. Google is God even Yahoo and MS cant beat them even if they merge “which they did” goodluck to them.
.-= Carmen Bennett´s last blog ..Get a No Nonsense™ Divorce in 67 Days =-.
The next Google Slayer is being cooked-up in somebody’s bedroom right now. That’s just how Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Apple & Yahoo got started.
If you have to ask for 100 million, then I think you are not creating a Google Slayer.
If a search engine want to survive in search engine war, whey should invest in technology and find other way how to make search engine better. Google still have weak point. Also search engine company should know how to create income so they will not die. A big idea could be crash if don’t have a good business structure.
.-= Ruri | Free article directory´s last blog ..Satellite Direct TV – Watch Online TV on Your PC Review =-.
I have been searching for searchme.com cause I thought it was an excellent engine that gave other info that Google did not provide. I have a problem seeing and many friends my age do have the same problem. I would like to see this engine purchased by someone and used again. If it is purchase I hope veiwers will find this great sight.