we didn't update our primary index for several months just as Google was gaining mindshare
I'm glad this has been mentioned. I noticed this at the time but never really knew if it was actually the case! Altavista had become somewhat annoying to use at the time and Google's relatively clean front page (although it was more than just a search box in the earliest days, but it was cleaner than AV's) meant it loaded quicker and sold me on both speed and that the results actually loaded.
I'm glad this has been mentioned. I noticed this at the time but never really knew if it was actually the case! Altavista had become somewhat annoying to use at the time and Google's relatively clean front page (although it was more than just a search box in the earliest days, but it was cleaner than AV's) meant it loaded quicker and sold me on both speed and that the results actually loaded.