In a report from Tokyo [last week], Reuters declared,
"the online collaboration responsible for Wikipedia plans to build a
search engine to rival those of Google Inc. and Yahoo, Inc."
Well, we could've told you that. :)
Jimmy Wales came out, fully loaded, with some fighting words -- or about as peaceful as fighting words can get:
The idea that Google has some edge because they've got super-duper rocket scientists may be a little antiquated now.
He went on to describe Google and Yahoo! as "black boxes" that won't reveal how they rank search results. And, that collaborative search technology could transform the structure of the Internet.
What this translates to is Wikia, the for-profit sister site to Wikipedia, will take great lessons from the non-profit's core. Wikia Search, then, is a place where:
...users could work together to improve search engines, just as Wikipedia users had tweaked and rewritten articles on the sprawling encyclopedia.
Wikia as a whole hosts collaborative community publishing sites, and is supported by advertising. Examples of some of these communities include 24, the Muppet Wiki (one of Jimmy's favorites), and the currently featured collaboration, Gears of War.
Originally posted on Waxxi's blog, Socially Speaking.
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