All the posts here suggesting that the thing that is needed is some technical advantage, or a business model, or a niche, are all true, but miss the point; a co

All the posts here suggesting that the thing that is needed is some technical advantage, or a business model, or a niche, are all true, but miss the point; a competitor that actually beat Google due to one or more of those "ingredients" would simply be acquired by Google, or crushed in the marketplace with due application (mostly fairly, prima facie) of Google's warchest (which may be inherently unfair). Managing to grow enough in an unappreciated search niche while staying under the radar in order to better withstand that kind of eventual attention seems unlikely. Targeting a segment that Google has been burned on (like social search) may help, but that probably just draws attention from a different MANGAM. Eventually, someone will be both smart and lucky enough to carve out some of the search space, but don't hold your breath, it is going to take so much luck it won't be soon, and may look accidental.