> I definitely see the problem with the API cost of the underlying calls though. That feels like a huge argument that having your own index is important to compete in the market.
A Google size index that is potentially able to replace google results would probably cost $100m-$1B to build. We have a fraction of that built for noncommercial results (try Noncommercial lens in Kagi to see how it works).
Aside from the upfront cost, how much do you think a query would cost? I know it's a bit hand-wavy as it depends on the infrastructure itself, but maybe you already have an order of magnitude of the projected cost? I wonder just how much margin google/bing is actually making with the API.
A Google size index that is potentially able to replace google results would probably cost $100m-$1B to build. We have a fraction of that built for noncommercial results (try Noncommercial lens in Kagi to see how it works).