The latest attempt to make search results more relevant: Social Search

[Kristijntje]

Social or community search has evolved from early attempts to aggregate search engine results into a one-stop location for searchers to view top results from Google, Yahoo!, MSN and other search sites. The initial idea failed to achieve mass adoption because each aggregator did not provide an answer to the following question: Why should I use one site to see the same top five irrelevant results for the phrase "tea bag?"

The latest attempt to make search a more relevant and ultimately more fulfilling experience for audiences is the social search model. Social or community search often combines the best aspects of aggregated search results from top search destinations and combines them with a communal twist of lime.

Searchers can now view what their neighbors or like-minded individuals think around the world...

full article: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10155.asp

[mandy]

A related article on the new breed of social search engines

Steve Mansfield operates his own Internet search engine from a place he calls a "secret hideout -- a small office surrounded by low-rent apartments on the outskirts of Lexington, Ky., a college town known for its horse farms.

Mansfield conceived Prefound.com a few years ago on the premise that humans, from pretty much anywhere, can collectively provide better intelligence than a computer program developed out of the Silicon Valley.

"Social search" attempts to let the entire community of users decide. In theory, the best ideas win out in the online marketplace and are less open to manipulation. Today, even large competitors like Yahoo and Google are pursuing the concept, hoping it'll help make search results more meaningful and thus expand the companies' market share...

full article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/FzeS...lace.xhtml

[mandy]

A related article:

Sometimes traditional search engines prove to be less than effective to searchers. To wit: 41.2 percent of users report that general search results are often not directly relevant to queries, and 18 percent leave a search engine without having found the information they're seeking...

Don't look now, but social search is pervasive. It's taking hold in large part because the Web itself is changing.

What is social search? Broadly speaking, social search enables the masses to have greater influence on the results of a search, and in so doing, enables better, more interesting and more targeted search results.

Some social search services prioritize search results based on the preferences of its entire user base, while others segment users to provide results that are more closely tailored to a particular user. Still others allow users to organize content into collections which can then be found by searchers. Whatever the form, the common thread with social search services is that users themselves have greater control over the results...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/8dxckD0K...Away.xhtml