New Google Overtake Candidate: Icerocket?

It seems that lately (well not only lately) everybody keeps talking about how Twitter will soon become the new Google or Facebook will soon become the new Google but it has been a while since anybody has mentioned Icerocket becoming the new Google.

In the meantime, when have you last taken a look at it? Not only is it a blog search engine now, but it also searches the social media such as Twitter and MySpace, and what’s more, has a Friendfeed-like live updating “Big Buzz” page accumulating the search results from all the different sources as they happen (according to Steve Rubel, added this January). This functionality is very handy if you run those ego-searches or want to see what others say about your company.

However, the history of Icerocket’s claims to become a new Google is a long one. Launched by Mark Cuban back in 2004, it has been viewing itself as “an alternative to Google and Yahoo” since its early days. In the company’s Crunchbase profile Google is listed as one of its competitors. In 2006, though, Cuban must have lost his faith in his startup and sold it. Icerocket got relaunched in 2007 and has been steadily adding features since then – despite the fact that Wikipedia does not find it notable enough. According to both Quantcast and Compete, its traffic keeps growing – although it is still far from the user base of Technorati, Facebook or Twitter.

Too bad. Unlike Twitter which is the tool for the egocentric ones out there more than a search tool, Icerocket looks really usable. I thought I’d even support it a bit by creating four new Ubiquity commands for Icerocket’s different searches – at least those I can see myself using. Enjoy!