Jimbo’s Wikia Takes on Google
A few months ago I wrote about building my very own Google using the open source software that is Nutch.
I actually did it but had to remove it from my server because the crawling sessions occupied too much space and resources on my server and caused it to crash a few times. This is one of the main obstacles facing anyone trying to compete with Google…computer power.
Jimmy Wales, founder of the Wikipedia has found another way to compete. Jimmy (aka Jimbo) is also utilising open source software to challenge the search giant but he plans to add a couple of new ingredients to the formula to make it work.
To challenge Google, Jimbo plans to utilise human editors from all around the world coupled with the computing power of thousands of idle computers to overcome the barriers to entry that Google has created over the years.
Basically, Jimbo plans to add the human touch to the traditional search engine algorithem and utilise computer down time from thousands of computers to crawl and index the web, this concept was tested in the past through a project called Grub. Grub never saw the light of day, but is now getting a second chance after it was recently bought by Jimbo to incorporate into Wikia.
Can Jimbo challenge Google? Why not, if anyone is qualified, Jimbo is, after all, he did manage (with the help of Google) to create the largest online encyclopedia to rival giants like Brittanica and Encarta.
Also…who would have ever though Google could challenge Alta Vista way back then but they did and they did it with new concepts and ideas set to revolutionise how search works and this is exactly what Jimbo is attempting to do.
Good luck to you Jimbo!
