Cuil (pronounced /'ku?l/ "cool" according to the creators) was a search engine that organized web pages by content and displayed relatively long entries along with thumbnail pictures for many results. It claimed to have a larger index than any other search engine, with about 120 billion web pages. It went live on July 28, 2008. Cuil's servers were shut down on September 17, 2010, with later confirmations the service had ended.
Cuils privacy policy, unlike that of other search engines, says it does not store users’ search activity or IP addresses.
Cuil is managed and developed largely by former employees of Google, Anna Patterson and Russell Power. The CEO and co-founder, Tom Costello, has worked for IBM and others. The company has raised $33 million from venture capital firms including Greylock.
