Date: Nov. 7, 2000
Link: http://www.traffick.com/story/11-2000/p2p.asp
Source Author or Organization: Nicholas Mercader, Traffick

Most search engines and indexers are based on the assumption that the user is looking for something that will be found at a web site. The author of this article challenges that assumption and argues that the peer-to-peer paradigm will have broad implications for portals and search engines.

The article discusses Napster, Gnutella and FreeNet as the earliest examples of new search systems that are purely distributed and have no central directory. Security implications are also discussed.