According to the article, blekko was in development for three years. Looking at the site ( http://blekko.com/ http://blekko.com/ ), it appears they just kinda

According to the article, blekko was in development for three years. Looking at the site ( http://blekko.com/ http://blekko.com/ ), it appears they just kinda copied Google. The site looks like google, including the search results. The name "blekko" sounds like "blech", another term for "gross" ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blech http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blech ). The slashtag thing is also confusing. So, imho, no, they did not launch the "minimum viable product". To paraphrase Paul Graham, the way to beat Google would not be to attempt to replace it but rather render Google irrelevant. Another point: Blekko is an example of what in management classes we refer to as "escalation of commitment". At some point, blekko should've realized that attempting to copy Google was a stupid idea and done something different. Instead, the longer they worked on it, the more committed they became to the idea. Three years later, no minimum viable product.