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Here's the A9 link:
http://a9.com/INFORMATION%20COLLECTED%20AND%20STOR ED%20BY%20A9.COM'S%20TOOLBAR%20SERVICE

(yes, this is a joke...)

Check out the first image result for Microsoft! Seriously though, I am pleasantly surprised at how good the search engine is performing.

found in consecutive digits of e.com...

A9 is hiring.

check the jobs page if you're looking for employment.

They're looking for
* Software Development Engineers
* Client Software Engineers
* Operational Excellence Engineers
* Systems Engineers
* Quality Assurance Engineers
* Help Desk Support Engineer

You can apply here

see you in the interviews,

found in consecutive digits of e.com...

A9 is hiring.

check the jobs page if you're looking for employment.

They're looking for
* Software Development Engineers
* Client Software Engineers
* Operational Excellence Engineers
* Systems Engineers
* Quality Assurance Engineers
* Help Desk Support Engineer

You can apply here

see you in the interviews,

Clearly, a9.com isn't a new search engine - there's absolutely no improvement to the actual search algorithm - or so it seems (especially since it leeches off the search results of other engines). Perhaps the search of a new source of data (your history of searches) is novel - but even then, probably only marginally.

Where I do see the possible value in the site is the "new features" (and I'll use the term "new" very loosely) for managing information - the information in this case being search results/bookmarks - and recording/managing trains of thought. Sorta like a lab book for a research scientist, here's a tool that allows you to perform the searches you search every day through say Google, but also record the sites you've visted during your searches, perhaps write a small entry about why you visited there and the relative value to the item you were searching for, and then to retrieve those thoughts later when you perform a related search (and perhaps find you had a related search you had forgotten about).

As many have pointed out, this concept isn't necessarily new and I'm not sure that A9's method is the right approach (too early to really tell...). Examples of more likely competitors would be: Onfolio (albeit, not directly in search - but similar enough in terms of "managing internet research"); Endeca - they call their concept "guided search" - part of which is the ability to search in the context of past searches; or even iKeepBookmarks.com (never used it, just googled for something similar;) which allows you to manage your bookmarks centrally online. Amazon's "unique" approach here is to do the management with search results, but all the same, it's just an info management tool.

So, given that Amazon has one of the largest databases of consumer information (both individual and aggregate trends, habits, etc) and they've never really ruled out being a company who will use that info to their advantage, I'm a bit concerned about A9's storage of my trains of thought and searches...and since they plainly say in their privacy agreement that "customer information will of course be one of the transferred assets" in the unlikley (their words) event that they sell the company. Ok, so Amazon sells the company to a marketing company who then uses the info to innudate you with advertisements in multiple forms (there doesn't seem to be anything limiting them from sending you email or contacting you via other means if you provide them with the info).

Taking away any problems with a big company warehousing your data (and personal trains of thought), the idea is intriguing - but I don't need yet another tool for managing my information in a narrow niche way (I already have too many of those). If it integrated with a tool I already use for managing info I gather (say, like my private database of links - or my file system even) - then it might be cool. Otherwise, I save my links (and my lab books) pretty effectively already - and without the targeted advertising.

My 2 cents.

Clearly, a9.com isn't a new search engine - there's absolutely no improvement to the actual search algorithm - or so it seems (especially since it leeches off the search results of other engines). Perhaps the search of a new source of data (your history of searches) is novel - but even then, probably only marginally.

Where I do see the possible value in the site is the "new features" (and I'll use the term "new" very loosely) for managing information - the information in this case being search results/bookmarks - and recording/managing trains of thought. Sorta like a lab book for a research scientist, here's a tool that allows you to perform the searches you search every day through say Google, but also record the sites you've visted during your searches, perhaps write a small entry about why you visited there and the relative value to the item you were searching for, and then to retrieve those thoughts later when you perform a related search (and perhaps find you had a related search you had forgotten about).

As many have pointed out, this concept isn't necessarily new and I'm not sure that A9's method is the right approach (too early to really tell...). Examples of more likely competitors would be: Onfolio (albeit, not directly in search - but similar enough in terms of "managing internet research"); Endeca - they call their concept "guided search" - part of which is the ability to search in the context of past searches; or even iKeepBookmarks.com (never used it, just googled for something similar;) which allows you to manage your bookmarks centrally online. Amazon's "unique" approach here is to do the management with search results, but all the same, it's just an info management tool.

So, given that Amazon has one of the largest databases of consumer information (both individual and aggregate trends, habits, etc) and they've never really ruled out being a company who will use that info to their advantage, I'm a bit concerned about A9's storage of my trains of thought and searches...and since they plainly say in their privacy agreement that "customer information will of course be one of the transferred assets" in the unlikley (their words) event that they sell the company. Ok, so Amazon sells the company to a marketing company who then uses the info to innudate you with advertisements in multiple forms (there doesn't seem to be anything limiting them from sending you email or contacting you via other means if you provide them with the info).

Taking away any problems with a big company warehousing your data (and personal trains of thought), the idea is intriguing - but I don't need yet another tool for managing my information in a narrow niche way (I already have too many of those). If it integrated with a tool I already use for managing info I gather (say, like my private database of links - or my file system even) - then it might be cool. Otherwise, I save my links (and my lab books) pretty effectively already - and without the targeted advertising.

My 2 cents.

There's definitely no SFW filter--try searching for goatse.

Or you could edit your preferences.

It claims that "open in same window" is the default setting. So, did you configure it to open in new windows and you just forgot?

• Hentai: Inside the tentacle Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: The Uranus Project Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: Debbie Does Darla, Donna, and Dan Why did we recommend this?
• Book: I'm a transvestite, and I'm okay!Why did we recommend this?
• Book: Coming out to your Family: It doesn't have to be hard!Why did we recommend this?

• Hentai: Inside the tentacle Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: The Uranus Project Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: Debbie Does Darla, Donna, and Dan Why did we recommend this?
• Book: I'm a transvestite, and I'm okay!Why did we recommend this?
• Book: Coming out to your Family: It doesn't have to be hard!Why did we recommend this?

• Hentai: Inside the tentacle Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: The Uranus Project Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: Debbie Does Darla, Donna, and Dan Why did we recommend this?
• Book: I'm a transvestite, and I'm okay!Why did we recommend this?
• Book: Coming out to your Family: It doesn't have to be hard!Why did we recommend this?

• Hentai: Inside the tentacle Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: The Uranus Project Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: Debbie Does Darla, Donna, and Dan Why did we recommend this?
• Book: I'm a transvestite, and I'm okay!Why did we recommend this?
• Book: Coming out to your Family: It doesn't have to be hard!Why did we recommend this?

• Hentai: Inside the tentacle Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: The Uranus Project Why did we recommend this?
• DVD: Debbie Does Darla, Donna, and Dan Why did we recommend this?
• Book: I'm a transvestite, and I'm okay!Why did we recommend this?
• Book: Coming out to your Family: It doesn't have to be hard!Why did we recommend this?

Just tried it out and, not liking to be limited by someone elses ideas of what constitues a "safe" result, I turned off Safe Search. Of course, in regular google, this would not pose a problem... you simply don't click on the links you don't believe are particularly savoury.

However, in a9, by default it shows images related to the search. I searched for the term hello. What do you thing I saw? A nice (gaping) thumbnail of goatse.cx.

Everytime I see that pit of despair, I swear that is the last fucking time i'll ever have to see that image, It still manages to pop up.

search for "Books" returns: Barnes and Noble!

Note it's definitely NOT safe for work. Gahhhhh

*shudders*

I hope someone got shot for that first colour scheme. It was like someone had opened up the back of my monitor and vomitted profusely into the electrode guns, and then unrinated on my retina.

quite beautiful, and grabs amazon stuff as well as google but:

it is more useful as a replacement for amazon search than google search

I would use this instead of amazon search, I can find the amazon product, and cross compare with third party sources.

I wonder if froogle results will come up for book searches :-) :-)

search test

I like thier url format, a search for orwell gives a url http://a9.com/orwell, and the results are nice, with web and images turn on by default.

Actually this feature alone makes it nice, web results and image results side by side...

Turning on more of the features makes it busy, and the history feature for your searches is a quirky idea.

For amazon searches 9/10 (because you are not in amazon)

For google + images 10/10 because it adds to the experience.

So I say it is useful.

I just hopped over and searched for Resident Evil 2, and lo and behold, I got anime porn pictures down the right side!

Yes, Google has just been erased from my memorybanks thanks to this killer feature.

a9.com which is run by Amazon using google still seems to be running.

I think that as a culture, we need to learn how to let go of things.

I read this poem by Tom Clark in Andrei Codrescu's "Up Late":

Great moment in Blade Runner where Roy Batty is expiring,
And talks about how everything he's seen will die with him-
Ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion;
C-beams glittering before the Tannhauser gates.

Memory is like molten gold burning its way through the skin;
It stops there.
There is no transfer.
Nothing I have seen will be remembered beyond me.

That merciful cleaning of the windows of creation will be
An excellent thing,
My interests notwithstanding.
But then again I've never been near Orion, or the Tannhauser gates,
I've only been here.

Credit to A9.com for finding the quote.

Unfortunately I can't mod you up in this forum because I already posted. Your point about usage patterns changing in response to available resources is spot-on.

However, there is a common mantra within companies such as Google or A9 right now -- storage is free. Internally, those guys say that on a daily basis. Of course, they have the funding and the mandate to make it a reality. But the point remains, for the cutting edge companies of today, storage costs are no longer a concern. In a reasonable period of time, it will be free for everyone, everywhere.

And as the cost of CPU cycles also approaches a negliable level, the age of the application, unbounded by the constraints of the past, is almost here.

Bandwidth and battery life remain practical limitations. However, as seen with WiFi technologies and the massive fiber pipes already spanning the globe, the bandwidth issues are going away as well. And optimistically, we may be only one minor technological revolution away from overcoming the power issue. It is best to conceive of a near future without those physical limits, as that helps one realize the opportunities ahead.

Boycott Google!

I agree with you 100%. Google's page rank is so messed up I've decided to use Amazon.com's A9 instead!

The internet should not replace old fashioned resources but merely embrace them.

I think this is where A9 will come in handy. Because it can search the text of all the books on Amazon, you could use the search engine to point you towards a physical resource.

Have a look at a9.com, which is Amazon's new search entry. Aside from a good web search engine, it provides a "history" of your previous searches and other innovative features.

Nope never heard of Gigablast. I guess the author of the post didn't read the recent Slashdot article about Amazon's new search engine.

Amazon owns Alexa, which has a Toolbar that sends your browsing habits to Amazon for rankings and analysis.

a9 likely uses Alexa data to generate better search results, and the a9 toolbar likely sends data to Alexa and/or a9 for analysis.

Yep, I think that's right.

Amazon owns Alexa, which has a Toolbar that sends your browsing habits to Amazon for rankings and analysis.

a9 likely uses Alexa data to generate better search results, and the a9 toolbar likely sends data to Alexa and/or a9 for analysis.

Yep, I think that's right.

Amazon owns Alexa, which has a Toolbar that sends your browsing habits to Amazon for rankings and analysis.

a9 likely uses Alexa data to generate better search results, and the a9 toolbar likely sends data to Alexa and/or a9 for analysis.

Yep, I think that's right.

I (often) half-jokingly describe Google as the compendium of all the world's knowledge. But I wonder how long that would continue if they actually did anything evil?

There are a lot of search engines out there, and while Google is currently at the top of the list, nobody stays there forever. I can remember a time when Netscape was on top [I hear jwz in my head: shut up! :-)] For awhile it was Yahoo! and Altavista had a turn. Now it's Google.

I'm just a lowly coder. I'm not enough of a visionary to know who will be on top in a year. I hope it's Google, but I'm entirely prepared for it to be Amazon or Altavista (again; has anybody noticed their recent changes?) or some brilliant kids from some community college somewhere who have nothing but a hosting account and some algorithms that will change the world.

the movie dreamcatcher sucks!
EW!!!

First search for the word Vagina

Returned This!

GUH-ROH-DEE

I love you kewsh

Seelet is the biggest queen in #dlf

My cats name is brownshoo

... not because the results are so good (they are the same as on Google), but because A9.com breaks your browser's back button! From A9.com, as soon as you did a search, you cannot go back anymore!

EW!!!

First search for the word Vagina

Returned This!

GUH-ROH-DEE

I love you kewsh

Seelet is the biggest queen in #dlf

My cats name is brownshoo

"two different ways to search the internet" ???
That's probably why they offer the same results, right?

Try this searches for the example 'Amazon sucks':

With Google the Search Engine
With Amazon the Merchant
With Yahoo the Christmas Tree

Obvously well rooted in google

http://a9.com/litigious bastards

nick

I don't know if anyone pointed this out, but they say right on their site that their web searches are provided by google they are simply adding "services", which IMHO are crap. Look at it here

EW!!!

First search for the word Vagina

Returned This!

GUH-ROH-DEE

I love you kewsh

Seelet is the biggest queen in #dlf

My cats name is brownshoo

They do provide a way to remove individual queries from your history. (Of course, you have to remember to remove all your goat fancier queries...) Or you can use the site anonymously via http://generic.a9.com/, or just have two accounts, one for goats and one for work.

Oddly, "I WANT TO SEE JEFF BEZOS NAKED" returns about 5,210 hits. "I WANT TO SEE JEFF BEZOS FULLY CLOTHED" only returns about 281 hits. Very strange things afoot indeed.

Oddly, "I WANT TO SEE JEFF BEZOS NAKED" returns about 5,210 hits. "I WANT TO SEE JEFF BEZOS FULLY CLOTHED" only returns about 281 hits. Very strange things afoot indeed.

Neither for boobs.

They are not looking at the same internet than we do, that's for sure.

If you submit material to A9.com, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant A9.com and its affiliates a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. You grant A9.com and its affiliates and sublicensees the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such content, if they choose.

Forgive me for not reading the article, but why does nothing come up when I type in porno? This is the Internet, isn't it?

It has potential.

hmmm.... but have you seen generic.A9.com?

On generic.a9.com, we will not recognize your A9.com or Amazon.com cookie. Information we gather on generic.a9.com will not be used in our data analysis (other than to detect abuse) and will not be used to personalize the services we offer you.

surely they deserve bonus points for that....

(plus the colour scheme aint so bad on generic.a9.com - reason enough to prefer it to regular a9! :) )

Ask and ye shall receive. Amazon giveth search without search history.

http://generic.a9.com

EW!!!

First search for the word Vagina

Returned This!

GUH-ROH-DEE

I love you kewsh

Seelet is the biggest queen in #dlf

My cats name is brownshoo

Oddly enough, searching for "warez keyz" gets results.

http://a9.com/warez%20keyz

Already used A9's Feedback form 3 times: first about the bobble that doesn't come on gecko bases browsers, second about not validating with w3c, and third about the back button.

I suggest you do too. I wonder if the listen.

So why does this search return not a single result?

http://a9.com/litigious%20bastards turns up trumps on SCO.