Powerset, a much-hyped search engine that has spent two years trying to tackle the problem of natural search, won't take on Google anytime soon, but it has gone after a sizeable chunk of the search market.

Earlier this week, Powerset unveiled its natural language search engine with one special kicker -- it will allow users better access to Wikipedia entries than the site's internal search engine and, perhaps, even Google.

According to Powerset, users can get better Wikipedia results from its search engine because it has actually read and understood each word on Wikipedia's site. A deeper understanding of the words on the page has long been the promise of natural search, and for a while Ask (formerly AskJeeves) billed itself as a natural search option. But so far, no one has been able to crack the natural search riddle.

While time will tell if Powerset has been able to succeed where others have failed, it's a safe bet that Wikipedia is a good starting point. The site, which has a notoriously bad internal search function, draws most of its traffic from Google. In March, Hitwise revealed that a sizeable chunk of Wikipedia users circle back to Google after they've read the entry they were looking for. That's a solid opening for Powerset as it looks to refine its product, build a user base and find a business model.

According to Search Engine Land, Powerset could be several years away from even making a go of its search business. But the company appears to have two options at least. On the one hand it can attempt to take Google on directly by building its own following of users. But on the other hand, Powerset may do well to focus on site-specific searches, using Wikipedia as a kind of lab rat.

If Powerset can prove itself to be the champion of site-specific search, it may yet find a business model when one considers a recent report on the ROI of the major search engines. While Google is the clear search leader, Microsoft actually delivers better ROI to advertisers because its searchers are thought to have a higher level of intent, which usually translates into action. If Powerset can sell itself as a platform for searching retail sites it may be a powerful place to sell sponsored text ads.