Google vs. Microsoft & Yahoo, all similar.

As I've been looking at search results for the three major search engines, I see that there are a lot of similarities between them. All of them have several characteristics which make them lemmings of the first order.

• All three now have a page that is kind of like Google's, a simple search box.
• The results they all provide are very similar. Honestly, there isn't a lot of difference between any of these, maybe a slight variation of the same websites at the top, but the first pages are very similar.
• They all are going to provide desktop search.
• They all are providing news, image, shopping and the same tabs for other types of search.
• The ads on all three continue to minimize the natural search results, crowding them out in on-page real estate.

So the conclusion is that they are all very much the same, now that we have an official release by MSN. This brings me to a point that I've been making for some time, that third parties will be developing better search packages utilizing the technology of the big three. Meta search engines or search engine repackagers will be the innovators for new ways to gather information. The raw algorithms will become a tool to make a better search experience by others. Look at A9.com or Dogpile, Clusty or IceRocket, they are repackaging search to better serve people.

The major search engines can't even do what they do and will probably be the search feeders of the future, while others shape it to better meet a particular need. Being that their results are all pretty similar, people will look for alternatives to get a better cross section of the web at one time.

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