BusinessWeek looks at the boom in specialized search engines and how they might impact Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft: "The boom in startups suggests a technology renaissance ahead, and this could mean big changes for Internet users. While Google and other giants seem wedded to the current paradigm -- type words into a rectangular box, and get a list of 10 blue links -- startups are throwing caution to the wind. Without existing users to alienate, they can afford to rethink everything from the search interface to the formulas used to deliver info.

The result is likely to be a move away from a single ubiquitous search box, away from the reflexive hop to Google to find info on the Net. Instead, people may use several different search engines, each tailored to a specific task. One might specialize in blog postings, another in video clips, and a third in general information. The shift may look like the evolution of TV, from a world dominated by the Big Three networks to one in which hundreds of cable channels specialize in topics from cooking to history. "People are looking for targeted, specific information that search engines can't provide," says Michael Yang, CEO of Become.com, a search engine focused on Internet shopping."