Everyone’s favorite internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis is at it again with a new people powered search engine, Mahalo. The basic idea is that experts choose websites and they appear at the top of the search results page. After the top picks, Google search results round out the list.

While I am excited about the idea of people powered search, I have to ask, “Didn’t Swicki do this a long time ago?” and even if it isn’t exactly the same thing, unfortunately the opinion of a small set of supposed experts is not too much more relevant a sorting method than an algorithm.

The Web 3.0 Solution

I like to blog on Web 3.0, and in that light this seems like a step in the right direction that could use a little retooling.

What they should add is some community feedback to round out the “expert’s wisdom”. I mean, it’s interesting if someone believes that a search is relevant. It’s far more interesting if everyone believes it is. They do offer a discussion section, but it would be far more useful to integrate user feedback into the results themselves.

Web 2.0 Roundup

Again, I am always a bit biased towards the Swicki camp on this sort of thing. The most effective way to use a search engine is to have users decide what is important to them, customized and tailored to the people using it. The wisdom of the crowds might be flawed, but it’s not difficult to tell if the information on the page is actually representative of what you were searching for.

[Mahalo is not currently live, but when it is you can check it out here...]

If you enjoyed that why not find a job or read our guide to working in the 21st century. You can also join our Kiva team or hire me for your project.