Every now and then there’s a whole bunch of media about a new search tool (or toy) that has the potential to boot Google off its throne and beat it at the search thing. It seems that Google is big enough now to be a target that everyone wants to go at and so when something new comes along, the headlines are usually ‘Google Killer’ or some-such.

WolframAlpha is one such search although it is about as far away from Google as you could get. This doesn’t seem to stop the media who are always after a good story, regardless of whether it’s accurate or not.

Don’t get me wrong, WolframAlpha is fantastic, but it’s not a Google killer, not even near, simply because it doesn’t do what Google does.

What Google Does

Google takes your keywords and then presents you with a list of websites matching them based on its ever-so-complex algorithms (if you’ve been to our events, you’ll know that they’re not that complex). You then go to one of these sites and get your information or you buy a toaster or something.

It is therefore taking data and sending you on your way.

Wolfram is different. This doesn’t really search, instead it attempts to understand your question and gives you an answer. No links to anywhere – no adverts, just the facts, ma’am.

So no, before you ask, I can’t make you top ten for ‘WolframAlpha’ and I can’t optimise your site for it either.

It’s brilliant

It really is. Here’s a search I did earlier:

So, it takes what I typed, decides that I’m after the current time in Brazil and gives me a result. Pretty damn fine if you ask me.

Is that better than Google?

Well, for answers I’d say it is, yes. But for finding other websites it’s obviously not designed for that and so won’t compete with it. It may be a ‘Wikipedia’ killer though…