I think this might be because it's only with the hindsight of having access to good-quality search that we see how important search was going to become. If you

I think this might be because it's only with the hindsight of having access to good-quality search that we see how important search was going to become. If you're solving a problem that your stronger competitors could be solving, and everyone knows that it's a valuable problem that needs to be solved, they'll probably squash you. Or be willing to buy when you offer up your solution.