A serious contender to Google isn't going to be a better Google (or even a comparable one), exactly for the reasons you mention. It's going to be something else

A serious contender to Google isn't going to be a better Google (or even a comparable one), exactly for the reasons you mention. It's going to be something else altogether. I can't tell you what the answer is, but I am pretty sure that it's outside the box you've built yourself into.