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> 14 European research and computing centers > 7 countries. > 25+ people. There are literally dozens of them! https://openwebsearch.eu/partners/ https://ope

by mkl95 4y ago

> 14 European research and computing centers > 7 countries. > 25+ people. There are literally dozens of them! https://openwebsearch.eu/partners/ https://openwebsearch.eu/partners/

marginalia_nu 4y ago
I don't think the number of people or even the size of the budget is wrong. A small team can be incredibly powerful and productive if you have the right people. In fact, I think far more often search engines fail from trying to start too big than too small. The problem is that you need people who actually know how to architect complex software systems much more than you need revolutionary new algorithms. For that, professors are the wrong people. A professor on the team, sure, that might be helpful. Not half a Manhattan project's worth.
- mkl95 4y ago
  It happens all the time in Europe. Collaboration between public and private companies is pretty much a pipe dream in the EU. Some company that actually works on building search technology would achieve way more than a bunch of professors. I disagree on the budget though. It is basically pocket change.
  - marginalia_nu 4y ago
    Arguably the biggest most unsolved problem in search is how to make a profit (or even break even). This can be approached in two ways: You can either try to find some way of making search more profitable, or you can find a way to make search cheaper. I think the latter is a lot more plausible than the former. A shoestring budget keeps the costs down by design and by necessity. A large budget virtually ensures the search engine becomes so expensive to operate it will never break even.
    - qualudeheart 4y ago
      Why not offer a paid tier? Seems to work for Kagi. Information elites will soon flock to paid search engines, which won’t be much more expensive than a streaming subscription. I pay for Netflix and am willing to pay for a search engine that offers as good a search service as the video streaming offered by Netflix.
    - mellavora 4y ago
      > Arguably the biggest most unsolved problem in search is how to make a profit And the EU just solved that problem.
      - marginalia_nu 4y ago
        Did they though?
- thwayunion 4y ago
  > For that, professors are the wrong people. Have no fear; all of the actual work will be done by PhD students straight out of undergrad, and most of the actual leadership will be done by a string of recent PhD grads who need results in 6 months because they'll be full time job marketing for the 6 months after that ;-)

by mkl95 4y ago

> 14 European research and computing centers > 7 countries. > 25+ people. There are literally dozens of them! https://openwebsearch.eu/partners/ https://openwebsearch.eu/partners/

marginalia_nu 4y ago

I don't think the number of people or even the size of the budget is wrong. A small team can be incredibly powerful and productive if you have the right people. In fact, I think far more often search engines fail from trying to start too big than too small. The problem is that you need people who actually know how to architect complex software systems much more than you need revolutionary new algorithms. For that, professors are the wrong people. A professor on the team, sure, that might be helpful. Not half a Manhattan project's worth.

mkl95 4y ago
It happens all the time in Europe. Collaboration between public and private companies is pretty much a pipe dream in the EU. Some company that actually works on building search technology would achieve way more than a bunch of professors. I disagree on the budget though. It is basically pocket change.
- marginalia_nu 4y ago
  Arguably the biggest most unsolved problem in search is how to make a profit (or even break even). This can be approached in two ways: You can either try to find some way of making search more profitable, or you can find a way to make search cheaper. I think the latter is a lot more plausible than the former. A shoestring budget keeps the costs down by design and by necessity. A large budget virtually ensures the search engine becomes so expensive to operate it will never break even.
  - qualudeheart 4y ago
    Why not offer a paid tier? Seems to work for Kagi. Information elites will soon flock to paid search engines, which won’t be much more expensive than a streaming subscription. I pay for Netflix and am willing to pay for a search engine that offers as good a search service as the video streaming offered by Netflix.
  - mellavora 4y ago
    > Arguably the biggest most unsolved problem in search is how to make a profit And the EU just solved that problem.
    - marginalia_nu 4y ago
      Did they though?
thwayunion 4y ago
> For that, professors are the wrong people. Have no fear; all of the actual work will be done by PhD students straight out of undergrad, and most of the actual leadership will be done by a string of recent PhD grads who need results in 6 months because they'll be full time job marketing for the 6 months after that ;-)