Human Search Engine

A human search engine is a search engine that utilizes human participation to filter the search results and assist users in clarifying their search request. The goal is to provide users with a limited number of relevant results, as opposed to traditional search engines that often return a large number of results that may or may not be relevant.

The incorporation of human intelligence into the search process is quite beneficial, particularly when an ambiguous word is used in the search query. For example, searching for information on "apple" with a traditional search engine produces a wide variety of results, from the fruit to The Beatles' record label. In a human search engine, a search for information on "apple" would prompt a human to clarify what type of apple information the user is seeking.

As of 2006, at least two human search engines are under development:
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In 2007, a new website MyShopPal.com was launched. This website incorporates subject matter expertise and user preferences in its search primarily for products. It uses a quantifiable metric, FAP Score, to prioritize the results:
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Also in 2007, searchamigo.net was launched. Search Amigo makes use of a message board to conduct personalized searches.
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How they make money ?

There are two options.

1. Charge the person who asks a question.

2. Do not charge the person, but, get revenue from Banner Ads.

The first option is more profitable, but the visitor expects a good value in addition to the right response. In most of these cases, the site pays the 'actual human search engine' - a person, who does the search.

The second option is good, if relevant ads related to the searches come across.

- added by Alluwanted

to launch human search engine

founder Jimmy Wales plans to launch Wikia Search in December, to eventually compete against automated search giants such as Google and Yahoo.

Unlike , Wikia Search will be for-profit. So the motivations of Wikia’s contributors could be different from the hundreds of ‘uninterested’ workers who edit the online encyclopedia. It’s also unclear how the human-powered search engine will provide efficient results – different from their relevance.

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Sources:

*http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2007/11/14/human-powered-search-engine-chacha-gets-10-million
*http://altsearchengines.com/2007/11/19/search-amigo-wants-to-be-your-search-amigo/
*http://www.editorsweblog.org/news/2007/09/ _to_launch_human_search_engine.php
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