Search - The Need For Speed

Google isn't only fast on the browser side, where queries come in, but on the indexing side, where the voracious BigTable on Google's back end chows on the content the Googlebot delivers. Jim Lanzone's abrupt exit as CEO of Ask.com, the usual commentary and conjecture have made their way around the Internet. Google's huge search market share, running competition against them can't be a lot of fun. Yahoo's Terry Semel finally got forced out while that portal's search marketing product received a frantic reconstruction, the better to compete with Google on contextual ad relevancy.