Neeva, a search engine known for its ad-free and privacy-focused approach, has made the surprising announcement of shutting down its consumer search operations. The company, which was founded by former Google executives Sridhar Ramaswamy and Vivek Raghunathan, revealed this decision on its official website.
Neeva was launched in 2019 with the goal of revolutionizing the search engine market by providing users with a more private and ad-free experience. Ramaswamy, the CEO of the company, believed that the reliance on advertisements was compromising the quality of search results. He aimed to create a superior search engine that did not depend on ads.
The primary mission of Neeva was to prioritize the interests of users over advertisers, returning control of search to the people. With a dedicated team of 50 individuals, the company developed its own search stack to compete against established organizations in the field.
By early 2022, Neeva successfully integrated Large Language Models (LLMs) into its search stack, becoming the first search engine to deliver real-time AI answers supported by citations for most queries. This innovation contributed to the rapid growth of Neeva, attracting half a million monthly active users within four months of its launch. However, despite this achievement, the company struggled to convince users to switch from their existing search habits, which ultimately posed a significant challenge to user acquisition.
Due to these difficulties and a shift in the economic landscape, Neeva has made the difficult decision to cease its consumer search operations. As part of the shutdown process, all user data will be permanently deleted, and subscribers to Neeva Premium will receive refunds for the unused portion of their subscriptions.
Nevertheless, Neeva’s journey does not end here. The company recognizes the urgent need for cost-effective, secure, and responsible utilization of LLMs. Neeva plans to leverage its expertise in search and LLMs to explore enterprise applications, as many of the techniques it has pioneered, such as model size reduction, latency reduction, and affordable deployment, are in high demand in enterprise settings.
The closure of Neeva’s consumer search product has broader implications for the search engine market. It highlights the challenges faced by new entrants, even with unique features and experienced leadership. Additionally, it raises questions about the sustainability of subscription-based models in the search industry and leaves a void for users seeking privacy-centric and ad-free search experiences.
Furthermore, Neeva’s innovative use of LLMs has the potential to influence how other companies approach incorporating AI in search. As the Neeva team embarks on their next venture, the search market and the tech industry will closely observe their navigation through these uncharted waters.
