Peer-to-Peer Techniques in Searching

So far searching web has been mostly centralized affair (Google et al). There have been few attempts to develop a distributed search framework, Sun's JXTA being a prominent one.

A new European Commission funded research project aims to produce a prototype p2p search engine that's been described as an attempt to create a "P2P Google".

"The aim is to produce a system that offers higher quality results and more robustness than a centralised system such as Google," says Dr David Hales from Bologna University, a researcher working on the project. Professor Gerhard Weikum from the Max Planck Institute, who's leading the effort, and which involves computer scientists from across Europe, says "We're in the early stages of the project but are making rapid progress."