The French oxymoron called Quaero

In January, I wrote about Quaero, a planned European multimedia search engine, the answer to Google and brainchild of the French government.

My own thoughts about it were expressed thus:

[…] The idea of Quaero is a terrific one. Yet I can’t imagine anything more oxymoronic than “government-backed search engine.”

Loic Le Meur – a Frenchman – has posted a withering commentary on this oxymoron, lambasting the French government in the process.

Headline points from Loic’s 10 reasons why the French search engine will fail:

  1. Can’t spell it.
  2. Centralized.
  3. Secret versus beta.
  4. No buzz, no adoption.
  5. A galaxy of actors who compete to get the subventions and don’t get much noticed for their latest web innovations.
  6. Not really international.
  7. A neverending story.
  8. Not enough euros.
  9. Subventions euros are not worth venture capital euros.
  10. Google is a thousand startups

See Loic’s post for the excruciating details.

Neville Hobson

Social Strategist, Communicator, Writer, and Podcaster with a curiosity for tech and how people use it. Believer in an Internet for everyone. Early adopter (and leaver) and experimenter with social media. Occasional test pilot of shiny new objects. Avid tea drinker.

  1. Das CIO Weblog

    10 Grüne, warum Quaero scheitern wird…

    Loic Le Meur, französischer Unternehmer, Weblog-Experte und zum "Entrepreneur 2005 of Europe" gewählt, erläutert in seinem Blog, warum das deutsch-französische Suchmaschinenprojekt Quaero scheitern wird. Kurz zusammengefasst deshalb: 1. M…

  2. Rod Large

    I wanted to ask you about this yesterday at ZeitGeist event! Great presentation…thanks
    But seriously…….why would the German and French governments invest in a search engine?
    Do they see Google as a threat? On what basis?
    regards
    Rod

  3. neville

    Thanks Rod. I wasn’t at Zeitgeist, though but Loic was.

    Re Quaero, Loic’s post really says it all. Maybe the govts do see Google as a threat although I think it’s more to do with French national pride or somesuch notion. Expensive pride.

Comments are closed.
Close