In those years from 97 to 99, Altavista might have been your first stop, but you had to ask Excite, Yahoo, Jeeves and Lycos for a full picture or even to get a

In those years from 97 to 99, Altavista might have been your first stop, but you had to ask Excite, Yahoo, Jeeves and Lycos for a full picture or even to get a single good answer. As you say, once Google Beta appeared it was the first and last stop for any of its users.