Google in 1999: Search Engines Escape the Portal MatrixLike Morpheus in The Matrix, Google gave web users a stark choice in 1999: take the red pill and experience a new world of search quality, or choose the blue pill and stick with the bloated world of portal search. Most people used the portal search engines — AOL, Yahoo, MSN, Netcenter, Excite, Alta Vista, Lycos, and some others. During 1999, search engines tended to be judged more on the size of their index. This may delay or even prevent the widespread visibility of new high-quality information.”This finding was quickly debunked by those who closely monitored the emerging search engine industry, such as Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Watch, a search news and tips website he founded in 1997. On June 24, 1999, Netscape announced a new version of “Netscape Search,” largely powered by Google’s search technology.