What will make search engines unique & valuable?

[Nacho]

So we all have our favorite search engine (or at least we have one we usually go to first), but why? So, is it all about the quality of search results paid or not? Is it speed? Is it that some offer less sponsored ads vs. natural listings? is it because of SE's reading our minds with short cuts? Is it the one with the most tabs? Is it because it's a specialty search engine (ie. music, video, images, shopping, etc.)?

Somehow the primary search engines differ in a way or two, but what do you think will make search engines unique and valuable going into the future?

[hiero]

I like Google for it's speed and usually accurate results.

I also like that they offer AdSense so we can make some money also. Nothing like a good Win/Win relationship! To me they give back as much or close to as much as they take. Pretty good business model from where I stand.

[Brad]

I use different search engines for different kinds of searches.

Gigablast - I use Gigablast a lot for navigational searches (I know the site exists I'm just not sure of the exact URL) and I also us it for the spell checker. I sometimes use it for topics I'm not familier with when both Yahoo and Google are basically showing the same set of sites. Gigablast can throw up some interesting odd pages in the top results that get buried in the big guys. Finally I like the fact that Gigablast has other SE's listed at the bottom of the SERP's so I can search them if I'm not finding what I want.

Yahoo - When I am writing in my local area weblog, Yahoo is constantly open in a different window. The ability to link easily to address specific maps and driving directions with ease makes local blogging a breeze.

I also tend to use Yahoo for long search strings and obscure topics because of the large database. News searching is also a big plus on Yahoo and I do most of my news search there. I also like that Yahoo still shows the directory category the site is in, I use that feature quite a bit looking for similar sites.

Google - has the freshness factor down pat. If it is something really new then I'll try Google or A9.

What I hate on any engine, is when the entire SERP above the fold is PPC results. This kills AskJeeves and AV for me, I won't use either one because I just become annoyed.

[withoutwax]

...but what do you think will make search engines unique and valuable going into the future?

I think that whoever does decent personalized results first will trap the market as users will be even more reluctant to change.

[Nacho]

Now that we're discussing the "NEW Yahoo! Search look (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2246) over at this other thread it made me think as to how sensitive we are to the search engine's design layout and uniqueness. So, I guess it's not just relevancy, but much more.

What is it that drives so many people to the BIG 3? really?