EU to Develop Search Engine

William Robinson writes "Digital Media is reporting that French President Jacques Chirac is making plans for a European search engine called "Quaero" to rival US internet companies such as Yahoo and Google. From the article: 'Those involved in the Quaero project, including Thomson, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, have said that it will be much more than a typical search engine. It will provide an array of multimedia tools for identifying and indexing images, sound and text. Quaero will also reportedly include a powerful translating tool which will be able to 'understand' audio as well as text. The developers plan to make Quaero available on all platforms, including PCs, mobile devices and digital TVs.'"

Anything you can do I can do better...

[jo7hs2]

Welcome to the great technological pissing war.

Re:Anything you can do I can do better...

[atrizzah]

Agreed. In light of this and the Galileo story, I'm having trouble seeing how spending government money to reinvent everything America has is a good idea.

Re:Anything you can do I can do better...

[Nutria]

at least they're building search engines and space exploration vehicles instead of nuclear weapons.

You do realize, don't you, that France is a nuclear power[0], and sold[1] to Iraq 12.5kg of 93% U-235 and "research reactor".

And lets not forget the direct German help[2] in creating Iraqi chemical weapons.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_and_weapons_of _mass_destruction [wikipedia.org]
[1] http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/facility/osiraq .htm [fas.org]
[2] http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/cw/az120103.htm l [fas.org]

Re:Anything you can do I can do better...

[GreyPoopon]

And on the whole, I'd feel safer with a government run search engine than with a profit motivated one.

Uh, I hate to tell you this, but it is almost certain that any government-run project will also be, in some way, profit motivated. And unlike the corporate-run project, it won't be readily apparent exactly what the objectives are because you can't easily see where the profit is going (or coming from, for that matter).

Re:Anything you can do I can do better...

[TuringTest]

And unlike the corporate-run project, it won't be readily apparent exactly what the objectives are because you can't easily see where the profit is going (or coming from, for that matter).

Uh? How do you see where the money is coming from in a corporation? Care to share your source? Do you have millionare friends?

Why Google Won and Chirac Won't

[billstewart]

Search engine dominance isn't an embedded infrastructure contest like railroad dominance - it's a popularity contest that can change in a heartbeat if something better comes along. Google became popular and crowded out its competition because it was a fundamentally friendlier engine, not in the sense of having syntactic sugar and flashy decorations like Hotwired, but in the sense of producing highly relevant results up front instead of mixing them randomly through the 50,000 matches for your search terms,

Re:Why Google Won and Chirac Won't

[frost22]

Perhaps Chirac can win part of the popularity contest in France

Forget it. I'm a European myself, and I've seen that kind of projects. Plenty of them. They all fails, especially the French ones. There is a whole scene of companies that do nothing than burning through European subsidies, project after project after project. They complete them, boast about them, and then bury them. That works especially well when you add in that Gallic talent for just accidently and by chance always hiring well connected french companies only in European projects.

Look who's in the boat here - that reads like a who is who of the Public Fundinds Burning Society. Deutsche Telekom, France Telekom, both fornmer state monopolists, Thomson, french electronics giant and perpetual receiver of ample state subsidies. The rest is probably of similar calibre.

and usually bureaucratic fiat produces things like bureaucrats and Fiats

While your intent here is right and the wordplay is cute, that's deeply offensive to a great Italian car tradition that is way more succesfull and receptive to their customers needs than any EU buerocrats pet project ever could be.

January 16, 2011

[XorNand]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - January 16, 2011 - Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) today announced it acquired France, a country located in Western Europe, mostly associated with fine cheeses, wine, berets, and the 5-yr old search engine "Quaero".

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Re:January 16, 2011

[Anonymous Coward]

More likely:

"26th of April 2006, Google declares war on France

  27th of April 2006, France surrenders and hands over presidency to Larry Page"

Re:January 16, 2011

[Lemmy Caution]

You know what the biggest irony of France-bashing is? More than the historical inaccuracies, it's the fact that of all the European countries, the French as a culture tend to be more fond of Americans than anywhere else. Personally, I think it's the French who understand the best features of the American psyche better than any other Europeans do. (The English certainly don't.) And both the US and France are in some sense post-revolutionary republics.

It's really sad - Americans just don't get that they are s

Re:January 16, 2011

[Lemmy Caution]

The French aren't particularly "warm" to anyone - because they have expectations of everyone, including themselves. They do not treat Americans worse than they treat each other.

Your knowledge of French history is also sorely lacking - the Paris Commune was, in my opinion, its greatest moment. And you have no understanding of the sacrifices it made in the 1st World War.

I've traveled extensively throughout Europe and the rest of the world. What I'm talking about is an actual appreciation for and understanding

Re:January 16, 2011

[jnaujok]

You mispelled "whine".

Oh, am I going to get nailed for this one...

Re:January 16, 2011

[WTBF]

Common agricultural policy, basically it means that farmers in the EU are guaranteed pay for crops etc.

Wikipedia has more details. [wikipedia.org]

That's great but

[Anonymous Coward]

what does it have to do with Apple?

Real reason

[Anonymous Coward]

The real reason is to filter out certain results on the query "French Military History".

Re:Real reason

[Compuser]

In that case, why involve Deutsche Telekom? Or rather, why did
Deutsche Telekom get involved?

Re:Real reason

[arethuza]

So what about the Battle of Tours [wikipedia.org]?

I would have thought it would have met with approval by our friends over the pond.

I am Scots - so naturally biased because of the Auld Alliance (not mention Val D'Isere [valdisere.com]).

You mean

[Epeeist]

when the Norman French conquered Britain

Or when Napoleon captured most of Europe

Of course you might mean when they ignominiously pulled out of Vietnam leaving the Americans to bring a succesful conclusion to the war there.

How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris?

[M3rk1n_Muffl3y]

Don't know, they've never done it.

You all laugh, but...

[SuperKendall]

The real reason is to filter out certain results on the query "French Military History".

A funny question on the face of it but a very serious one if you think about it. What is to stop a government built search engine from tweaking the results just a bit to elimate embarrasment?

I think governments have no business in entreprises that involve shaping what media citizens see.

And for those paranoid about NSA apying, just why do you think they aim to parse the audio in the first place? Hint; It's not primar

Quaero.com taken

[digitaldc]

Q: How exactly does Quaero translate: "Google is the best internet search engine ever made."
Inquiring minds want to know.

Check out http://www.quaero.com/ [quaero.com] - its a marketing company from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Re:Quaero.com taken

[Xemu]

Check out http://www.quaero.com/ [quaero.com] [quaero.com] - its a marketing company from Charlotte, North Carolina.

And they're pretty damn good at viral marketing if they even get the President of France to advertise for them.

Re:Quaero.com taken

[AndersOSU]

Maybe they'll try to aquire the DNS root servers and redirect all Quaero.com and google.com requests to their site.

Now how would they go about doing that?

Quaero.eu

[Anonymous Coward]

In Europe, ".com" is not ubiquitous. Instead, the common format is to use the .xx country-based TLD. Or, if you are going to be EU-wide, as suggested in the article, then you would be Quaero.eu and not some silly .com

Additionally, who knows what kind of alternative algorithm tweak they might give results. For example, boosting .xx results slightly over .com results. Or perhaps boosting links which get .xx links TO them instead of *all* links (translation: what is more important to Europeans, as valued b

Re:Quaero.com taken

[geniusj]

My guess is that it will be quaero.eu

Why?

[fishybell]

If there's a true need for it, won't the market fulfil the need [google.com]?

Also, just because the government says that it should "understand" spoken audio, I'm pretty sure that no existing technology could even come close (<sarcasm>just look at the wonderful translation tools</sarcasm>).

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

The market does not solve every problem. The market has failed to provide affordable health care for every American and those who call themselves Christians have failed to pick up where the market has left off. I left my church because the governing council was more interested in how to decorate the church for Easter than in how to feed the hungry two blocks away.

Re:Why?

[DoorFrame]

Well, yeah, but the market hasn't failed to produce an adequate search engine.

Re:Why?

[955301]

the market isn't in charge of healthcare in America. Healthcare here is recovering from a hobbling brought on by the insistence that your employer is responsible for your health and because insurance companies dilute the sting of the overpriced costs. So before it gets better, it has to get worse. But if it's left to the same pressures that drive stereos, gym memberships and washing machines, it would be a non-issue.

And you really expect a self serving religious movement to exercise compassion efficiently? Compassionate people excercise compassion, not community organizations. Get enough money in an org and the greedy come in and push the compassion right out the door.

Re:Why?

[greythax]

But if it's left to the same pressures that drive stereos, gym memberships and washing machines, it would be a non-issue.

This is, most likely, not the case. Healthcare, like gasoline, fresh water, and electricity is less an elective service, and more of a utility. In order to survive, you will most likely need health care at some point. It is highly unlikely that you will shop around while your appendix is bursting. And ultimately, you will pay whatever they tell you to pay, because you could die withou

Re:Why?

[evilviper]

This is, most likely, not the case. Healthcare, like gasoline, fresh water, and electricity is less an elective service, and more of a utility.

That's strange, those all sound ideally suited for the market.

Water, for instance, doesn't involve the utilities so much anymore. People drive to a store and pick-up a forklift-load of bottled water, or they have 5 gallon bottles delivered. People get to decide how much they are willing to pay, and what level of quality they require. I wouldn't be surprised if, in

Re:Why?

[Nutria]

compassionate organization

Christianity hasn't been a compassionate organisation since 312 CE.

Re:Why?

[NewbieProgrammerMan]

Also, just because the government says that it should "understand" spoken audio, I'm pretty sure that no existing technology could even come close...

Isn't the lack of existing technology usually the reason one funds research?

Re:Why?

[bombadillo]

If there's a true need for it, won't the market fulfil the need [google.com]?

Not always. Examples would be the Interstate Highway system and TVA. The market generally won't carry large scale farsighted neccesities. The highway system and TVA served as a primer for private commerce in the US which we are enjoying today. Some projects have to be done by the Government when private interestes can't deliver. Quaero obviously is not one of them as several private companies are in the search engine bus

Re:Why?

[stienman]

If there's a true need for it, won't the market fulfil the need?

Not if the need is to help building the great wall of France. Please note that there are certain types of websites one cannot host in France, and companies such as Ebay cannot allow users located in France to even see certain types of auctions.

The government may have a compelling need that the market will never fill.

-Adam

Re:Why?

[fishybell]

Was Google's technology created from the market?

Yes. Google's founders are part of the market. Even if they developed a lot of it in college, they were still acting to fill a void in the market.

Or maybe was the DARPA-Internet created from the market?

Maybe you interpreted "true need" improperly. The internet was not a need before it existed. It has since become a need.

Nothing to see

[Snamh Da Ean]

Really little content in the article, a representative sample of which is "The ambitious project will probably not be available anytime in the near future. Quaero is still in the earliest stages of development, so early that none of the major players have yet ventured a guess as to how much the project might cost. When Quaero does launch, it will have a great deal of catching up to do."

So basically, a bunch of European telecoms companies are discussing how to compete with Google. And this is news why? Nothing to see here.

French search results?

[HugePedlar]

Query: "King Richard the Lionheart"

Results: 1. "I fart in your general direction".

Seriously, though - I definitely think there's a market for an effective multimedia search engine: imagine being able to whistle a song into your mic, for example and being told what it was called.

Re:French search results?

[HugePedlar]

Or perhaps I meant King Arthur. Damn, it's too long since my last Python fix.

Re:French search results?

[Metasquares]

I am glad that you think that, because that is precisely what I proposed for Google's summer of code. They refused it, but I'm developing it on my own. It probably won't be done for a while (as in around a year, if not longer). Tonesearch.net will be the website (there's nothing to see there yet).

The process is basically three step:
1. Translate pitches into notes.
2. Match the general sequence of notes to a known melody in the database.
3. Return them by how close each note is to its corresponding note in the

Re:French search results?

[HugePedlar]

True, but most people can't spell for shit either yet search engines have learnt to adapt - not that I'm saying the issues have at all similar solutions, but it would be interesting to find out.

Re:French search results?

[Metasquares]

I don't think that the issue is whether or not people can whistle in the general vicinity of a tone. I think the issue is that, unless they have perfect pitch, there's a good chance of them doing it in a completely wrong key :)

Fortunately, transposition of a song is very trivial for a computer (think the Google "did you mean..." links, but with "Looking for a song like that in D Major?").

Not going to work well

[ZachPruckowski]

If it is something run by the EU, it's going to face a lot of political hurdles. I recognize that gov'ts are sometimes better at providing these services than companies, but the EU has a whole lot more red tape to get through than most other gov't organizations. And the French President supporting it is no promise it'll happen. He lost the vote to ratify the EU constitution in his country.

I'm not saying it won't happen, just that it'll face lots of problems in a new governmental organization that is still trying to get its feet under it.

Say what?

[Mindjiver]

When has a government ever provided a service like this that is better and cheaper than what the market would have produced?

Doomed to failure?

[Z0mb1eman]

As much as I'd like to see something like this happen - it's a huge project, led by SEVERAL governments and telecom companies, neither of which are exactly known for efficiency or technical brilliance. And it doesn't seem like there's much profit incentive, which makes it even less likely to be finished efficiently...

It's great that the EU is trying to assert itself in this area - having the US control 90% of the internet's technology is exactly the type of monoculture that is decried on the desktop - but is there any way this project won't end up crushed under the weight of its own bureaucracy?

Re:Doomed to failure?

[DingerX]

Nonsense. That's the EU money train. where do I sign up for some corporate Baksheesh with Euronationalistic undertones?!

Re:Doomed to failure?

[atomico]

is there any way this project won't end up crushed under the weight of its own bureaucracy?

No, not really. And before they can publish a single page of documentation, they will have to make sure it is translated to each one of the dozens of official languages of the Union. And make a good business case for the big incumbent telcos (FT, DT), big technology dinosaurs, and some submarine company planted there to make the project fail, everybody pushing conflicting requirements of course.
I am thinking of many o

Re:Doomed to failure?

[daeley]

And before they can publish a single page of documentation, they will have to make sure it is translated to each one of the dozens of official languages of the Union.

Boy, can't wait to see the comments on *that* code. ;D

Re:Doomed to failure?

[Florian Weimer]

Bureaucracy is not the problem. The real issue is that you can't index works without permission from the authors because indexing is gradually recognized as a new commercial exploitation right (as far as copyright is concerned). Unless you blatantly ignore copyrights (which is problematic for a government-led project), a modern search engine can't really take off and become a useful tool.

Apart from that, various pressure groups will ask that the search results are adjusted according to various laws: searc

Missing Feature

[Jerf]

It will also include a multi-lingual pony.

You know, I thought marketing vaporware claims were bad, but political marketing vaporware, now that's whole new dimensions of vapor. It's bad enough when marketing has excessive influence on tech development, can you imagine what it'll be like when politicians are involved as a matter of "national prestige"? I have not the humor chops to properly satirize that.

Three Cheers for an "Industrial Policy"

[Anonymous Coward]

Shades of the Nixon-Khrushchev "kitchen debate".

The Soviets turned their national scientific and research genius into making *one* perfect washing machine, as the foolish Americans splintered their effort among competing companies tearing each other to shreds in destructive competition over shape and color.

"Today, we are behind you. Soon we will be even with you, and we shall pass you, in glorious progress toward perfect socialism and communism!" (or something like that).

How can feeble, fractured American enterprises like Yahoo and Google survive competition with the might of central, coordinated European industrial policy???

Right.

Bet it finds Airbus before it finds Boeing

[ScentCone]

There's just something slightly unseemly about this. Government-coordinated search just chafes, I guess - though much of Europe is presumably used to communicating over state-owned infrastructure anyway. But at least they'll have no trouble keeping pages about German WWII relics from being indexed, this way.

Why not Gögel?

[Joseph_V]

Jokes aside, Americans may laugh because google already indexes multimedia and a host of other information like scientific journals and nudey pics. But the Euros have a healthy dose of nationalism that will likely influence their homepage.

I don't think anyone can compete with google right now in a slug match on indexing, but other factors make special purpose internet hubs a winner. (a number already exist such as yahoo and /.)

Re:Why not Gödel?

[Dystopian Rebel]

That way, the results may be completely unexpected and unpredictable and it will be OK.

Wow

[ScaryFroMan]

I'm usually not one to say that Slashdot is slow, but geeze, SNL got it first.

Something like its a search engine that after you enter in a query, it rudely refuses.

The Latin pedant steps in...

[tibbetts]

'Quaero' (Latin for 'to search')

No, it's Latin for 'I search'. The author should have Googled it [google.com].

Really?

[jmerelo]

Most europeans are quite happy with their californian-bred search engines. Plus, they don't have awkard names.

Re:Really?

[IANAAC]

Most europeans are quite happy with their californian-bred search engines. Plus, they don't have awkard names.

Maybe so, but as an american (who translates for a living) I think this really could be a good thing. Eurodicautom (and the soon-to-be-released IATE) are invaluable for intergovernmental documentation within Europe.

I had also heard...

[Loco3KGT]

that France was looking to invent a "circular transportation facilitation device." Could I get someone to confirm that?

Quaero?

[nekoniku]

Sounds delicious! I'll have two, no onions.

A few points to the EU powermongers...

[Aphrika]

1. Try and come up with a domain name that isn't ambiguous in how it's said or spelt.

2. Start asking us EU citizens if we'd mind you spending our cash on something that isn't really required

3. get out of the mindset that the internet is somehow defined by geographical borders and edges - just what is an EU search engine? Does it just search the EU? What?

4. How about attacking the problem of low tech-esteem in Europe not by building a government-sponsered programme (which no doubt will require taxpayers money to be thrown at it year on year), but by fostering an environment where private tech companies can flourish (like in the US).

You mean india surely

[SmallFurryCreature]

The tech industry in america is floundering. Oh sure there are some success stories just check Apple, an all american product. Wich state is China in anyway?

But I got a suggestion for any eu citizen who thinks the US is heaven on earth. Emigrate. It is actually fairly easy provided you got some half decent job skills and money. No you are not allowed to say anything bad about US immigration policy, remember, your a US fanboy.

1. Pff, I link to it once and that is it. I can always google for it

2. I rather

Re:You mean india surely

[lbrandy]

The tech industry in america is floundering. Oh sure there are some success stories just check Apple, an all american product. Wich state is China in anyway?

It grew [yahoo.com] 16% last year. Instead, let's talk about Microsoft and Google. Those two companies compare favorably to most Europeon nations, on their own. But let's not silly facts get in the way of your ramblings.

2. I rather they spend it on this then on a war.

Awesome. Here's a bit of logic for you. "This is a good idea because I don't like America and they spend money on a war. This costs money, therefore it is good." That's grade A bullshit.

3. Perhaps a search engine that does not bow to the Chinese goverment in the name of the almighty dollar?

Do we really need to talk about the bullshit the French government does for it's almighty Franc? How about Nazi references? Be honest, wouldn't you be bitching just as much if google -hadn't- respected the wishes of China, and then you could say "Imperiliast America and google imposiing it's will on other nations for the almighty dollar". This is your best steaming pile, yet.

4. Yeah, because the top cellphone company is european and all your pc's are made in the US. No I rather we keep our model. So do the majority of EU voters. EU socialist, US capatalist. Move to location of your choice.

This is the best one yet. Clearly you refer to Nokia [nokia.com]. A company that is #1 because it competes in the free market with no government benefits at all. And this is your evidence supporting "socialism". Isn't that... ironic? Err no, wait... It's just plain wrong.

Re:You mean india surely

[ostiguy]

Do you honestly expect Europe, the Europe that is seriously considering lifting its arms embargo against China, to not have its search engine bow to the whims of the Chinese government?

Re:You mean india surely

[F_Scentura]

"Not that Google in France or Germany would allow you to, either."

What the hell are you talking about?

http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=nazi&btnG=Goog le-Suche&meta= [google.de]
http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=Nazi&btnG=Rech erche+Google&meta= [google.fr]

Re:You mean india surely

[WhiteWolf666]

It's more sophisticated that you might think:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/google/ [harvard.edu]
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php /1488031 [internet.com]

Notice:
http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&q=nazi&btnG=Goog le-Suche&meta= [google.de]
Ergebnisse 1 - 10 von ungefähr 28.300.000 für nazi. (0,03 Sekunden)
http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&ie=ISO-8859-1&q= nazi&btnG=Rechercher&meta= [google.fr]
Résultats 1 - 10 sur un total d'environ 28 300 000 pour nazi. (0,05 secondes)
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en- us&q=nazi&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 [google.com]
Results 1 - 10 of about 29,900,000 for nazi [definition]. (0.04 seconds)

See the search count numbers? Don't blame it on language. Lets search for Nazi in ... Japan:
http://www.google.co.jp/search?q=Nazi&btnG=%CF%EE% E8%F1%EA+%E2+Google&lr= [google.co.jp]
Nazi 29,900,000 1 - 10 (0.05 )

Neat, huh?

Keep in mind, unless you specify google to focus on your language, the search results should be _exactly_ the same across local sites. Except if they tamper with the results, which both Google and Yahoo do for Germany and France.

Research on Similar experiences with china:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/filtering/china/ [harvard.edu]

Sadly, you can't test the Chinese version from outside China. cyberlaw sometimes has a proxy running in China that will allow you to test it, but its currently down. A google filters those results based upon whether your IP block is Chinese or not.

Here's someone's test. You don't have to believe it, I guess:
http://www.dit-inc.us/report/google200409/google.h tm [dit-inc.us]

Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_blocked _by_search_engines_in_Mainland_China [wikipedia.org]

Interestingly enough, looks like our Congress criters may be trying to change this behavior:
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6026733.html [zdnet.com]

More information

[broothal]

Since this is kindda old news, there's already several stories [google.com] in various news media. It ranges from wild guesses to (a few) facts. Quite interesting read.

I hope they change the name

[DrXym]

No one is going to have the foggiest idea how to type quero, queero, quato, kumquat, kuato or whatever the hell it is into their addrees bar.

Re:I hope they change the name

[DrXym]

Heh, I'm not American. And it doesn't require a course in Latin to realise how stupid it is to produce a site few people are going to remember let alone spell properly.

Wow it will do so much

[wmshub]

So this search engine will run on all platforms, index everything in every type of media, etc. etc. etc.

While they're at it, why don't they just say it will cure cancer and bring an end to poverty and war?

In other words, this is all vaporware. We should all know by now that the claims of a project when it is started can be very different from the reality when (oops, make that "if") it is completed.

"...making plans for..."

[Weaselmancer]

igital Media is reporting that French President Jacques Chirac is making plans for a European search engine called "Quaero" to rival US internet companies such as Yahoo and Google.

"Making plans for" is a long, long way from delivering anything. I'm betting that once they start to realize the scope of what they're suggesting, they will change their tune a bit. Or at least scale back the idea somewhat. A google that understands audio and video?

Good luck though, because after all it's saying "why not" that makes change happen - but I think they'll be surprised when they realize the magnitude of their undertaking. Underestimating Google is a classic internet blunder.

Hidden Features... Historical Revisionism!

[RexRhino]

I am sure that this search engine will have all sorts of wonderful hidden features... for example, if someone searches for information about risky or unhealthy behavior, I am sure the search engine will at least give them a warning, if not omitting the information (after all, the government has an obligation to protect people). I am sure it will definitly ommit information about illegal activities. I am sure the system will profile people based on their search topics, so that potential terrorists, hate crim

press releases

[revery]

Those involved in the Quaero project, including Thomson, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, have said that it will be much more than a typical search engine

I'm waiting for a press release that say something like "Those involved in the Chameleon search engine project have stated that Chameleon will be a complete ripoff of existing search engines, with little to no innovation."

I'm long past getting excited about products that were just announced by groups that have no significant track record in the area th

Doomed to failure and obscurity

[MetalliQaZ]

Putting together a project like that simply because they don't want to use commercial offerings based in the United States is stupid. Without solid motivation, ingenuity and demand, it is doomed to fail.

-d

Let's make a bet

[dada21]

Take people with the same energy as those who work for the DMV, and put them up against people with the same energy as those who work for your average car dealer.

Train both sets of people to become software developers.

Let's bet on the outcome. Public programmers are shams just like public workers in any public office. Cronying at best, lazy worthless animals at worst.

How Europeans continually think that they can compete by removing competition and giving it to government is beyond me.

Re:Let's make a bet

[A.K.A_Magnet]

Please do not confuse the whole continent with the backward looking french. :)

Please do not confuse the backward looking french with the french :)

Re:Let's make a bet

[Mindjiver]

Yeah, that is true

I was mostly speaking of the french political elite which does seem to have no idea what they are doing. I would recommend them to read Frédéric Bastiat ;)

How much will they have to block.

[DAldredge]

Since most of Europe has 'hate speech' laws, how much of the net will this search engine be forced to block?

Why not just buy a large interest in Google?

[Fiz Ocelot]

They should just buy enough Google stock in order to put someone on the board to represent their interests. It would be much easier and probably cheaper than a big project like this.

And while we are at it...

[CupBeEmpty]

It will provide an array of multimedia tools for identifying and indexing images, sound and text. Quaero will also reportedly include a powerful translating tool which will be able to 'understand' audio as well as text. The developers plan to make Quaero available on all platforms, including PCs, mobile devices and digital TVs. and while we are dreaming... the EU will be offering a pony to every little girl and boy and a Christmas turkey to all families (except ones of North African heritage and anyone who

First GPS...Now Search Engines

[xoip]

Seems to me the EU is trying to reduce their reliance on U.S based technology. I wonder if they will start up their own Internet too.

Profitable Search Engine?

[AeroIllini]

The people who thought this up don't have much of a clue.

They mention that they want to create this new search engine "to rival US internet companies such as Yahoo and Google." I assume that means that they want this search engine to make as much money as Yahoo and Google.

News Flash: the "search" part of Yahoo and Google really doesn't make a lot of money. It's just a vehicle for all their other projects.

Yahoo makes a ton of money because they have their hand in a lot of different pies, as evidenced by thei

New search engine capitulates

[wardk]

I understand the new French search engine has already surrendered to the German engine.

And like everything else in western europe

[Rac3r5]

It will be more expensive to run, cost money to do searches and try to block stuff that is uncompetitive with their high prices.

Not an EU project

[brpr]

Typical for Slashdot to get this wrong. This isn't an EU project. It's a collaboration between the French and German governments (and in fact they are only collaborating to encourage French and German companies to develop a search engine).

Dupe!

[saskboy]

Slashdot posted about the ESA's space Ion Engine just a few days ago...

Oh. This is another kind of search engine? Why not use Google?

Sheesh

[AceJohnny]

Disclaimer: I'm (mostly) french.

This isn't the first time our dear (cough) beloved (gak) President presses for a catch-up plan in the digital world. Remember he started a project to digitize our paper legacy, in an attempt to counter Google's similar but english-language project.

Now I can vaguely undestand the motivation behind such a move: present a counter force against english-language cultural domination. (considering how China is growing, I'm not sure american culture is the one to be feared in the coming century). This *is* a cultural problem on the internet. I'd rather we all speak a common language, but to each his own.

Maybe he's trying to get his name in the history books for starting such projects. People tend to try that when they get to that age. I could understand that too.

Of course, this project would be in direct competition with Google, such as it's presented. It strikes me as basic economic common sense that a trans-european politically-led project has not a snowball's chance in hell in any market competition.

Maybe as an academic project?...

EU has self-esteem issues

[Stan Vassilev]

First they felt bad US owns the backbone of Internet so they stepped up to control it and/or make their own "European Internet".

Now that it didn't quote work our, they decided to settle for the next big thing, which is have their own "European Search Engine".

What the hell is that? A joke? And I actually live in Europe so it hurts to say this. I'd be proud if an European company comes up with "the next Google" but coming from the French government it comes up as a "me too" behaviour.

I think it's called "independence".

[Spy der Mann]

Why depend on American companies if you can do it with European ones?

Re:I think it's called "independence".

[bvwj]

Q:Why re-invent the wheel?
A:Ego

Also, it's not European companies, it's a European govenrment subsidising European companies.

Re:I think it's called "independence".

[undeadly]

Also, it's not European companies, it's a European govenrment subsidising European companies.

This aptly describes US defence and areospace industry.

Re:I think it's called "independence".

[Nutria]

This aptly describes US defence and areospace industry.

And Airbus.

Besides, last I checked, Google wasn't part of the military-industrial complex.

Re:I think it's called "independence".

[CptNerd]

All Capitalist Warmongering "companies" are Running-dog Lackeys of the Imperialist Western Military-Industrial Complex.

Boy, you sure didn't pay enough attention in Dialectics, huh?

Re:I think it's called "independence".

[massivefoot]

Well Galileo is important for two key reasons. Firstly, it's far more accuarte then GPS (on the order of 1m rather than 4-5m). Secondly, GPS is controlled by the Pentagon, they can switch it off (or, more likely, encrypt the signals so they can only be recieved by military personel) whenever they like. Galileo will be under civilian control. There was also talk of it including a relay system for distress signals.

Anyway, back on-topic, "Quaero" is intended to be able to search images and sound. I assume t

Re:I think it's called "independence".

[Irish_Samurai]

I thought "Brotherhood of the Wolf" was a cool movie.

Does that count?

Re:jsut waiting for the storm

[2nd Post!]

Why should governments run search engines?

Why should the users trust that the government will provide fair search results free of bias?

Why should a government run search engine be better than a private run search engine?

Re:Why Is This in Politics??!!

[undeadly]

Yet, this story has nothing to do with the US or politics really. What the EU does shouldn't be in this section.

In this you are very wrong. This is all about politics: get control of vital resources. EU views USA with Bush II in power with deep scepticism, and tries to wrestle as much control as they can since USA has become sort of unreliable. Quite simply, enemies of USA is scared more than ever and close allies are apprehensive. Those that thinks this is good are fools (not that I suggest that you thinks so).

Re:Erm, vapourware anyone?

[general_re]

...and, erm, that's it.

Well, not exactly. If the EU is going to be shitting out money like a broken slot machine, it remains for you and I to figure out how we can get a piece of this. I'm certain that, given the proper funding, I can help them solve the technical obstacles before them However, for deeply complicated reasons (it's complicated) much of my research will need to be conducted in places like Bali and the Bahamas and so forth.

Re:Also in the news:

[bombadillo]

Japan to develop it's own cars... oh wait

Yeah why must hollywood remake french movies?

[SmallFurryCreature]

Why did Nasa go into space when the russians had already done it? Why do anything if somebody else has already done it.

The following bit of info may shock some people so please, little kids leave the room, adults brace youreselve.

GOOGLE SUCKS AS A SEARCH ENGINE

Anyone still around? Good, we judge google by its peers and its peers are the totall crappers so by comparison google looks pretty good. BUT imagine that the people at google had thought "Oh, there already is a search engine no need to make another." We would still be using altavista or something.

Google is fairly good at returning pages regarding obscure linux error messages. When however your search should include words in common usage or possible of a retail product or god forbid be associated in anyway with the adult industry then you are floundering in page after page of crap results.

There is an even worse problem. Despite all what the fanboys will tell you Google is a business. A business that now not just provides search and ads but is becoming a content broker itself.

Could google one day prefer its own pages over others? For now the opposite it seems, I can't get google to return its own videos that it sells BUT some goverments might feel that internet search has become such an important tool that there is some importance to having an alternative to just depending on the US.

America is a funny country, ever since WW2 america has been complaining that it has to do foot the bill for the entire world defence. Europe thinks of creating a european army and the US gets upset. US taxpayer pay for the free GPS of the entire world and they complain. EU makes it own version and americans get upset.

Here is a suggestion for americans, you run your country your way and we run ours our way.

What you are missing is that not every goverment has the same motives. Perhaps some feel that not being a slave to america is a good thing. Since you aren't paying for it with your taxes what business is it of yours?