It's Built. Will They Come?
Jan 07 2008
Jimmy Wales is hoping you've been frustrated by your search results.
The founder of Wikipedia, the expansive online encyclopedia compiled and edited by the public, unveiled his newest project today: Wikia Search. As an open-source network, it aims to make search smarter by letting users decide if searches are useful and which results are relevant. Other search sites, including Google and Yahoo, use algorithmic ranking methods that have largely remained behind a cloud of mystery.
Wales wants to make it clear that this project is in a very early stage, its alpha release. After all, when Wikipedia launched in 2004, the site was little more than a skeleton. First you build it, then they come. Or so Wales hopes.
On the technology blog TechCrunch, Michael Arrington isn't impressed. After testing the site for four days, he concludes, "it may be one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had the displeasure of reviewing." He calls the search results "poor and thin," and declares that its "yet another social network" (users are encouraged to create profiles and invite friends).
Wales doesn't deny that the search is bad. Indeed, in the "about us" section of the site, it clearly states in bold letters: "We are aware that the quality of the search results is low."
"It’s a project to build a search engine, not a search engine," Wales responds on TechCrunch. As more users test the site and provide feedback on searches, its functionality will improve.
But because the site is based on public feedback, it will be susceptible to users trying to game the system by manipulating the ranks of certain pages. Wikia will attempt to block them, Wales told the New York Times.
There is one major difference between this project and Wikipedia. Money.
The ad-free Wikipedia is run by a nonprofit foundation. Wikia, which also operates wiki sites on thousands of topics, is a for-profit company that will make money by selling ads. More than a year ago, it raised $14 million from investors including Amazon.com, Bessemer Ventures, and Netscape founder Marc Andreessen.
