The Human Touch That May Loosen Google’s Grip - New York Times

Timely snapshot of emerging Google competitors 

The fumbling of Google’s largest challengers, however, has not dampened the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists for entering the search game. The combination of low start-up costs and potentially huge profit makes it seem a reasonable bet.

Developing a search algorithm can be accomplished by very small teams. It was a team of two — Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google — who developed a new and improved search algorithm. They beat out Alta Vista, whose search engine was developed by seven people at the Digital Equipment Corporation.

The Human Touch That May Loosen Google’s Grip - New York Times