Jimmy Wales (via WikIa) plans to build a Search Engine to compete with GooGle. A key approach is to use Crowd Sourcing to evaluate page-quality as an alternative to Page Rank. AmaZon will provide technical expertise in addition to the money they already put in.

• Jan08'2007 update: or was it just a big misunderstanding?

Mark Bernstein, in repeating his objection to Blog Comment posting (vs commenting via your own WebLog), notes that Blog Thread/BlogWeb mechanisms are being undermined by the Spam Wars. The rise of Social Bookmarking, like del.icio.us and ma.gnol.ia, and the new prominence of social navigation (Meme Tracker) tools like digg and reddit, partially compensates for our loss. But digg and reddit by definition reward mostly the rich; it's much easier for celebrities (AList) to generate digg momentum than it is for kids or scholars. Would a Social Network Context for those tools help, or just create more AList momentum?

Oct'2007 update: the chatter continues. Wales said that if a search engine's source code was simply released to the public and a large number of volunteer users constantly monitored the results like with Wiki Pedia, then it would actually be a better defense against spammers. Plus, users at the grassroots level, instead of a company like Google, could then decide which links should come up first when a search is inputted and what the public should see and read first on any given topic. (that actually sounds a bit like MaHalo)

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