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<a href="/blog/1277-calacanis-launches-human-powered-search-engine">Announced last month</a>, the service attempts to improve on traditional search engines by employing a team to edit results for a range of search terms. Calacanis <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/web-development/TCH_WDD/53236-24171">asked users</a> of LinkedIn what they would do next if they were the CEO of <a href="http://www.mahalo.com/Main_Page">Mahalo</a>, and got some interesting feedback - one pointed out the obvious drawback of using a team to edit a search engine; not having comprehensive results: <blockquote> "Until you have more human results on there - it's just a rebranded Google. "500 pages a week isnt a lot - so i would probably see how this can be improved by a factor of ten, otherwise by the time you have nice results you will have lost all publicity. First impressions and all that... " </blockquote> Another pointed out the advantages of human-powered search results: <blockquote> "One thing that a human-powered engine can do that a computer cannot is identify "sides" of an issue. If someone enters a search for President Bush, a human can identify pros and cons." </blockquote> Another suggested that Mahalo should differentiate itself from <a href="http://www.about.com">About.com</a> and <a href="http://www.wikipedia.com">Wikipedia</a>: <blockquote> "Make your operators live. Build a chat window next to every query, and let people ask your operators narrowing queries. Get them to stay on the page and talk to other searchers, and promote the ones who offer good advice." </blockquote> This is, of course, a great advert for <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/answers/">LinkedIn Answers</a>, showing how the service can be used to tap into the knowledge of other professionals.

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Link URL="/blog/1277-calacanis-launches-human-powered-search-engine" Window="New">Announced last month</Link>, the service attempts to improve on traditional search engines by employing a team to edit results for a range of search terms. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Calacanis <Link URL="http://www.linkedin.com/answers/technology/web-development/TCH_WDD/53236-24171" Window="New">asked users</Link> of LinkedIn what they would do next if they were the CEO of <Link URL="http://www.mahalo.com/Main_Page" Window="New">Mahalo</Link>, and got some interesting feedback - one pointed out the obvious drawback of using a team to edit a search engine; not having comprehensive results: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"Until you have more human results on there - it's just a rebranded Google. <LineBreak /><LineBreak />"500 pages a week isnt a lot - so i would probably see how this can be improved by a factor of ten, otherwise by the time you have nice results you will have lost all publicity. First impressions and all that...</Quote> "</Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>Another pointed out the advantages of human-powered search results: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"One thing that a human-powered engine can do that a computer cannot is identify "sides" of an issue. If someone enters a search for President Bush, a human can identify pros and cons."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>Another suggested that Mahalo should differentiate itself from <Link URL="http://www.about.com" Window="New">About.com</Link> and <Link URL="http://www.wikipedia.com" Window="New">Wikipedia</Link>: </Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>"Make your operators live. Build a chat window next to every query, and let people ask your operators narrowing queries. Get them to stay on the page and talk to other searchers, and promote the ones who offer good advice."</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>This is, of course, a great advert for <Link URL="http://www.linkedin.com/answers/" Window="New">LinkedIn Answers</Link>, showing how the service can be used to tap into the knowledge of other professionals. </Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

2007-06-12T08:34:00+01:00

econsultancy_xml

Jason Calacanis has been on LinkedIn, asking users of the social network what he can do to improve Mahalo, his recently launched human-powered search engine. <a href="http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/013791.html">Search Engine Roundtable is reporting</a> that Calcanis went on LinkedIn answers to get some free advice about the direction he should take with his search engine.

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Jason Calacanis has been on LinkedIn, asking users of the social network what he can do to improve Mahalo, his recently launched human-powered search engine.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Link URL="http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/013791.html" Window="New">Search Engine Roundtable is reporting</Link> that Calcanis went on LinkedIn answers to get some free advice about the direction he should take with his search engine. </Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

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For background on online PR and social media more generally, It's worth reading our (free to registered users) <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/online-pr-and-social-media-trends-briefing">Social Media Trends Briefing</a> (June 2009). Econsultancy has also published <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/social-media-and-online-pr-digital-marketing-template-files">Social Media and Online PR Template Files</a>, which you can adapt and use for your own projects. For innovation in this space, download our <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/innovation-report">Innovation Report</a>.

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Calacanis turns to LinkedIn for help with search engine false

2007-06-12T10:25:00+01:00

calacanis-turns-to-linkedin-for-help-with-search-engine

2009-04-28T22:51:21+01:00

2009-10-13T09:07:17+01:00

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