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<p>The answer: crowdsourced search doesn't appear to have much appeal. Jimmy Wales announced on his blog yesterday <a href="http://blog.jimmywales.com/index.php/archives/2009/03/31/update-on-wikia/">that he was shutting Wikia Search</a> down so that Wikia could invest more of its resources in products that are gaining traction.</p>
<p>Those products include Wikia itself (which provides wiki communities), <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/3224-does-the-internet-need-another-answers-website">Wikianswers</a> (which is a wiki-style Q&A site) and Wikia's gaming and entertainment networks. As Wales points out, Wikia is one of the fastest-growing member community destinations <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success/">according to Nielsen</a>, although it's hardly a name brand like Wikipedia.</p>
<p>Wales still believes that there's an opportunity in the search space and writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>In a different economy, we would continue to fund Wikia Search indefinitely. It’s something I care about deeply. I will return to again and again in my career to search, either as an investor, a contributor, a donor, or a cheerleader.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, Wales enthusiasm belies the fact that launching a search engine is a tough proposition today. Google is still going strong and both human-based efforts like Wikia Search and algorithm-based efforts like <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/2429-powerset-opens-up-search-engine-to-the-public">Powerset</a> (which was acquired by Microsoft) alike have been unable to create any real disruption in the market. That doesn't mean that there isn't an opportunity and room for improvement; <strong>I think it simply means that the average consumer is probably satisfied enough with his or her search experience enough of the time to avoid trying out new search engines.</strong></p>
<p>But even if Wales' effort with Wikia Search was misguided in the first place as many critics argued when it launched, at least he had the good sense to <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/3601-how-not-to-be-the-gm-of-your-industry">see the writing on the wall</a> and shut it down. I have a hunch we'll see more companies making similar decisions this year.</p>
<p><em>Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerryank/">kerryj.com</a> via Flickr.</em></p>
<p>The answer: crowdsourced search doesn't appear to have much appeal. Jimmy Wales announced on his blog yesterday <a href="http://blog.jimmywales.com/index.php/archives/2009/03/31/update-on-wikia/">that he was shutting Wikia Search</a> down so that Wikia could invest more of its resources in products that are gaining traction.</p>
<p>Those products include Wikia itself (which provides wiki communities), <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/3224-does-the-internet-need-another-answers-website">Wikianswers</a> (which is a wiki-style Q&A site) and Wikia's gaming and entertainment networks. As Wales points out, Wikia is one of the fastest-growing member community destinations <a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/twitters-tweet-smell-of-success/">according to Nielsen</a>, although it's hardly a name brand like Wikipedia.</p>
<p>Wales still believes that there's an opportunity in the search space and writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>In a different economy, we would continue to fund Wikia Search indefinitely. It’s something I care about deeply. I will return to again and again in my career to search, either as an investor, a contributor, a donor, or a cheerleader.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, Wales enthusiasm belies the fact that launching a search engine is a tough proposition today. Google is still going strong and both human-based efforts like Wikia Search and algorithm-based efforts like <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/2429-powerset-opens-up-search-engine-to-the-public">Powerset</a> (which was acquired by Microsoft) alike have been unable to create any real disruption in the market. That doesn't mean that there isn't an opportunity and room for improvement; <strong>I think it simply means that the average consumer is probably satisfied enough with his or her search experience enough of the time to avoid trying out new search engines.</strong></p>
<p>But even if Wales' effort with Wikia Search was misguided in the first place as many critics argued when it launched, at least he had the good sense to <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/3601-how-not-to-be-the-gm-of-your-industry">see the writing on the wall</a> and shut it down. I have a hunch we'll see more companies making similar decisions this year.</p>
<p><em>Photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerryank/">kerryj.com</a> via Flickr.</em></p>
2009-04-01T08:06:06+01:00
0
1
html
<p><strong><img alt="" height="167" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/469741864_2c532beef8_m.jpg" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: right;" width="128" />Can search be crowdsourced? It's a question that Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, set out to answer when his for-profit company Wikia launched Wikia Search.</strong></p>
<p>Wikia Search, which <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/2494-wikia-search-all-the-flaws-of-wikipedia-added-to-search">we reviewed</a> here on the Econsultancy blog when it launched, tried to give users the ability to edit search results in much the same fashion that users can edit pages on Wikipedia.</p>
<p><strong><img style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; float: right;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/469741864_2c532beef8_m.jpg" alt="" width="128" height="167" />Can search be crowdsourced? It's a question that Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, set out to answer when his for-profit company Wikia launched Wikia Search.</strong></p>
<p>Wikia Search, which <a href="http://econsultancy.com/blog/2494-wikia-search-all-the-flaws-of-wikipedia-added-to-search">we reviewed</a> here on the Econsultancy blog when it launched, tried to give users the ability to edit search results in much the same fashion that users can edit pages on Wikipedia.</p>
false
3612
<p>For background on online PR and social media more generally, It's worth reading our (free to registered users) <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/online-pr-and-social-media-trends-briefing">Social Media Trends Briefing</a></strong> (June 2009). Econsultancy has also published <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/social-media-and-online-pr-digital-marketing-template-files">Social Media and Online PR Template Files</a></strong>, which you can adapt and use for your own projects. For innovation in this space, download our <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/innovation-report">Innovation Report</a></strong>.</p>
<p>For background on online PR and social media more generally, It's worth reading our (free to registered users) <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/online-pr-and-social-media-trends-briefing">Social Media Trends Briefing</a></strong> (June 2009). Econsultancy has also published <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/social-media-and-online-pr-digital-marketing-template-files">Social Media and Online PR Template Files</a></strong>, which you can adapt and use for your own projects. For innovation in this space, download our <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/innovation-report">Innovation Report</a></strong>.</p>
Wikia and Jimmy Wales shutter Wikia Search
false
2009-04-01T09:10:00+01:00
wikia-and-jimmy-wales-shutter-wikia-search
2009-04-30T05:24:03+01:00
2009-10-13T10:09:39+01:00
1142