Google was such a massive success that any search startup with a chance of being a "Google killer", or even just a worthy competitor, seems to be finding investors.
If 1% share is a billion dollars in annual revenue, there's some real opportunity there.
I think everyone is investing in search by looking in their rear-view mirror. I doubt the real "Google killer" will be a "text box entry leading to a list of links" search engine of the same nature as Google.