How many iterations of search engine algorithms were tried before finding a solution that beat the competition? Google now kills many of its own products that d

How many iterations of search engine algorithms were tried before finding a solution that beat the competition? Google now kills many of its own products that don't live up to expectations. Microsoft has had a number of failed products, even some versions of windows are considered to be failures. Each company has learned from the failures though, which I think is a main point of the article.