Cuil原本是Google的競爭對手，但是已經於2010年九月關閉。現在Google已經把Cuil的七個專利買下來，我們來看看到底這些專利是些什麼內容?
根據這篇”Google Acquires Cuil Patent Applications“，作者說到他很訝異，因為這些專利內容都只有關於Cuil的界面，而沒有談到真正Cuil的特點，也就是據宣稱可以更快速及便宜的建立更多的索引內容。
Cuil與Google最大的不同在於排名系統，Google透過站內連結分析(link analysis)等指標指定網頁的優先等級，也叫做網頁排名。而Cuil則透過搜尋查詢分析網頁內容的重要性，換句話就是結果自動分類(classification)與群聚(clustering)。
這個曾經被認為是Google挑戰者的Cuil竟然就這樣的關燈走人了，可見搜尋市場的競爭性。
以下是Google買下的專利列表:
(1)
Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with a Variety of Display Paradigms (以各種不同方式展現搜尋結果的設備與方法)
Invented by Tomas Costello
Assigned to Cuill, Inc.
US Patent Application 20090240672
Published September 24, 2009
Filed: July 24, 2008
(2)
Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results Using Tabs (以Tabs方式展現搜尋結果的設備與方法)
Invented by Tomas Costello and Louis Monier
Assigned to Cuill, Inc.
US Patent Application 20090240685
Published September 24, 2009
Filed: July 24, 2008
(3)
Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results Using Stacks (以堆疊方式展現搜尋結果的設備與方法)
Invented by Tomas Costello
Assigned to Cuill, Inc.
US Patent Application 20090241044
Published September 24, 2009
Filed: July 24, 2008
(4)
Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with Configurable Columns and Textual Summary Lengths (以可組態欄位與文字總結長度展現搜尋結果的設備與方法)
Invented by Tomas Costello and Edward Lau
Assigned to Cuill, Inc.
US Patent Application 20090241018
Published September 24, 2009
Filed: July 24, 2008
(5)
Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with an Associated Anchor Area (以相關錨點區域展現搜尋結果的設備與方法)
Invented by Tomas Costello and Edward Lau
Assigned to Cuill, Inc.
US Patent Application 20090241058
Published September 24, 2009
Filed: July 24, 2008
(6)
Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with Various Forms of Advertising (以各種廣告形式展現搜尋結果的設備與方法)
Invented by Tomas Costello and Edward Lau
Assigned to Cuill, Inc.
US Patent Application 20090241065
Published September 24, 2009
Filed: July 24, 2008
(7)
Apparatus and Method for Displaying Search Results with a Menu of Refining Search Terms (以搜尋詞精簡的選單展現搜尋結果的設備與方法)
Invented by Tomas Costello
Assigned to Cuill, Inc.
US Patent Application 20090241066
Published September 24, 2009
Filed: July 24, 2008
上面的幾個專利確實都是跟搜尋結果的展現方式有關係，Google為什麼需要這些專利呢?
如果你仔細閱讀其中的專利內容，你會發現這些專利幾乎都有一個共通點，就是希望可以把許多不同意義的搜尋詞搜尋結果，有效率的顯示出來。
也就是跟語意網路有關係，當一個字詞有多個意義的時候，Google希望他的展現方式是有以上專利的保護，或是希望透過上面的專利造成其他競爭者的門檻。
更進一步的意義應該是，Google對於多義搜尋結果的演算法應該已經可以浮出抬面，因此後續應該會有更多相關的新界面或是新服務出現。