# Why We Need More Boutique Search Engines
source: https://sariazout.mirror.xyz/7gSSTJ96SEyvXeljymglO3zN4H6DCgVnrNZq8_2NX1A tags: #literature #relational-thinking #favorites #inspiration #blog-ideas #startup-ideas uid: 202301292238 —
NOTE: This has been the most inspirational product idea-related post I’ve read in a long time. If this company decided to pivot to something other than hiring, or someone else decided to work on this problem, I’d join them in an instant. Maybe that means that this is something that I should be working on instead. Maybe someday when I decide I want to make my own startup. #self-reflection Update 02-20-23: Maybe the reason why this captured my imagination so much is because it reflects some of my values? 202301292249. Specifically, “Reduce inefficiencies” 202301292317 and “Measure, track, and pace yourself.” 202301292318.
There’s an emergence of tools like Notion, Airtable, and Readwise where people are aggregating content and resources, reviving the curated web. But at the moment these are mostly solo affairs, hidden in private or semi-private corners of the Internet, fragmented, poorly indexed, and unavailable for public use. We haven’t figured out how to make them multiplayer. (View Highlight)
With the advent of Google AdWords, it became profitable to put out shitty content that passed as informative and filled Google’s search engine results. In 1998, the first iteration of Google indexed 25 million pages. Today, Google’s index includes more than 100 trillion pages. AdWords was the catalyst for the explosion of content garbage manufactured for SEO purposes we see today. It’s also the reason why hidden gems, the kind of UGC content we discover on Twitter all the time, are less likely to show up highly ranked in search results. What started as a well-intentioned way to organize the world’s information has turned into a business focusing most of its resources on monetizing clicks to support advertisers rather than focusing on the search experience for people. (View Highlight)
I believe the opportunity in search is not to attack Google head-on with a massive, one size fits all horizontal aggregator, but instead to build boutique search engines that index, curate, and organize things in new ways (View Highlight)
Google is a great example of how the internet enabled scale and speed: every page on the web returned in an instant. But increasingly, we’re seeing this scale is at odds with a fundamental human need: relevance. Someone who wants to find the best freelance designer, or the best sushi restaurant, or the best NFT to buy will not find the answer on Google. (View Highlight)
When you monetize via ads, curation takes a backseat to featuring advertisers - there is just less digital real estate available to curate your own recommendations - so these platforms end up making ethically dubious design choices that generate massive trust gaps. (View Highlight)
A daily email with the top five Alibaba products feels fun and gimmicky as a side project, but it doesn’t help when you’re trying to find the best crib for your baby. Inevitably, you’ll want a way to search through a curator’s archives. (View Highlight)
The opportunity is in moving curated content feeds away from their never-ending-now orientation and towards more goal-oriented interfaces. People should be able to find whatever content they want on their terms and not be beholden to when the curator decides to publish. (View Highlight)
- Note: I have felt this when I tried to use TikTok as a way to find information about clubs in SF (since Google and reddit had obviously failed me), and the posts I found were more focused on capturing the viewer’s attention than making a conscious effort to enumerate all possibilities and address them exhaustively.
Applying Ben Evans’ framework, it becomes clear that while the vertical search players have become too large and need curation, the curation feeds have become too long to browse and require search and structured data. The solution is better search and better curation, all wrapped in a better business model - a combination I call boutique search engines. (View Highlight)
- Note: Is this what are.na is?
Unlike vertical search aggregators, boutique search engines feel less like yellow pages, and more like texting your friends to ask for a recommendation. They have constrained supply, which is the foundation for their biggest moat - trust. Importantly, boutique search engines introduce new business models that don’t rely on advertising. (View Highlight)
There are tens of thousands of people sharing insights on a long-tail of topics, but their content is buried in the deep corners of the interwebs, found only by chance, and consumed in fleeting social media feeds that strip context and discourage reflection. (View Highlight)
- Note: This is the reason I’ve been using Pinboard so much! It’s basically a curated search engine for information on the web