Could the founder of Wikipedia succeed where giant Microsoft has failed? Launching fairly soon, early next year, Jimmy Wales is looking to start a new search engine that will supposedly be a "Google Killer". While we all know the downsides of calling anything a "killer" (take a look at the the Zune, the AMD K5 and many others), the new "Wikisari" site will be based on the existing Wiki design, in which individuals control the content and control of the site. In this instance, individuals would control how sites are ranked and searched through, something Mr. Wales thinks gives him a leg up versus Google, who currently dominates 45% of the search market:
Mr. Wales told The Times of that Google, with its algorithmic search, isn't as smart as human editorial judgment. Wikiasari will be built on the model created by Wikipedia, in which contributors will make decisions about how to rank sites in a search. Advertising will generate revenues, Mr. Wales told The Times.
The concept sounds interesting. Wiki, like Google, has become a term used quite often in the computer world that is friendly to most. Funding for the site, much akin to Google, will be ad-generated. I look forward to seeing the launch of Wikiasari, but I seriously doubt it will pose a threat to Google.