But some computer experts who have examined the technology believe that it could someday supplement or even threaten the Yahoos and Googles of the world. The new search technology makes traditional engines appear antiquated because it has the potential to scan every machine on a network, creating a snapshot of the system as it exists that moment, and display any type of file in response to searches. It could, for instance, show maps in response to queries about directions or the value of variables in a pair of quadratic equations. In contrast, today's popular search engines catalogue about 10 percent to 50 percent of the more than billion machines hooked up to the World Wide Web, according to various estimates, and can for the most part only return text files. Today, the group plans to announce that it has signed on its first corporate backer.
Industry analysts say that's a major milestone for the technology.
Wego chief executive Kir Kahlon said that his company will offer the new search engine to its clients to facilitate searches within their sites but has no plans to compete with the already established general-interest portal sites. Kan, however, did not rule out the possibility that he or someone else would create a separate company to do that. Google President Sergey Brin, a PhD from Stanford University who has been studying search technologies since the mid-1990s, says his firm is already looking into harnessing Gnutella's power. But he believes Infrasearch is too primitive right now to be put into commercial use. Officials from Yahoo and Lycos declined comment.