Neeva, the innovative search engine known for its commitment to user privacy and ad-free experience, has announced the shutdown of its consumer search product. The company’s mission to put user interests first and provide a private search experience has proven to be a formidable challenge in the face of established players with extensive resources.
Neeva’s small team of 50 individuals had built a search stack from the ground up, incorporating petabytes of web information to power an independent search engine. However, the team encountered unexpected difficulties in convincing regular users to switch to their platform, despite offering a superior search experience. The process of changing default search settings and differentiating between a search engine and a browser proved to be significant hurdles.
“While convincing users to pay for a better experience was a less difficult problem, getting them to try a new search engine in the first place proved to be a major challenge,” expressed the Neeva team in their official statement.
With the changing economic landscape and the realization that creating a sustainable business in consumer search was no longer viable, Neeva has decided to shift its focus. Over the coming weeks, neeva.com and the consumer search product will be shut down, and the company will explore new areas of opportunity.
Neeva’s loyal community of customers and users, who have been instrumental in providing feedback and support, will be disappointed by this development. The team expressed their gratitude towards the community, acknowledging their love and encouragement throughout the journey.
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However, all is not lost for Neeva. The company has recognized the pressing need for effectively and responsibly utilizing generative AI and LLMs (Language Models) in enterprise settings. The techniques and expertise developed by Neeva, including size reduction, latency reduction, and inexpensive deployment, have caught the attention of enterprises seeking innovative solutions.
“We are actively exploring how we can apply our search and LLM expertise in these settings,” stated the Neeva team. They plan to provide updates on their future work and team in the coming weeks.
Users who subscribed to Neeva Premium will receive refunds for the unused portion of their subscriptions. Additional information on refunds can be found in the provided FAQ. Apple iOS subscribers are instructed to request their refunds through the appropriate channels.
As Neeva bids farewell to its consumer search product, it remains optimistic about the potential to contribute its search and LLM expertise to enterprise applications. The team expressed gratitude towards their dedicated employees and conveyed their appreciation for the opportunity to undertake this challenge with such a talented group.
It remains to be seen how Neeva will navigate its new path in the enterprise landscape. As users and industry observers await further updates, the impact of their expertise and innovations in this domain will undoubtedly be of great interest.
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