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Over a year ago, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales stated he was going to start a people-powered search engine. After a couple delays and a great deal of hype, Wikia Search launched its initial Alpha test earlier this morning.
While we generally do not cover search-engine start-ups, Jimmy Wales has a proven track record, is an open and genuinely nice fellow, and has effectively dealt with past public controversies with his integrity and credibility intact. He has already changed the face of the World Wide Web twice by creating collaborative products people love to use. If anyone is going to establish a search engine that could capture a slice of market share in 2008, Wales and Wikia are the group to watch.
Unfortunately, there is not much to see here at this point. Users are greeted with a sparse white screen showing a simple query box below the cute graphic of something resembling a smiling cloud or a very fluffy, self-satisfied pillow. In the upper right corner, two tabs prompt users to “Start a new account” or to “Login” to their existing account.
