Paper #: 1.1
Title: Google, The Anatomy of a Large-scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine

(1) Problems

The problem Google is trying to solve is the lack of a high-quality, fast search engine for the web. Current sites at the time produced too many unwanted results for queries, although their efficiency was not a problem.

(2) New Idea and Strengths

The idea of the PageRank was extremely novel, although it seems obvious after its explanation.  Google¡¯s other innovation was using the forward link to help define the page it linked to, rather than defining a page based on itself. The realization that great must be taken in the design of the data structure was important, as it speeds up the searching to useable levels. I am sure the ¡°system anatomy¡± is not unique, although the design would seem strong. The design also thought of the flexibility and scalability of the program. The authors did a good job of anticipating the growth of the web and preparing for it in their system design. The examples from existing search engines were also entertaining.

(3) Weaknesses and Extensions

The only weakness Google has is the inability to turn lead into gold, although I¡¯m told they have some people working on it. Seriously though, this idea was well thought out and designed, and very readable for a technical paper