A problem that I have noticed with search engines like Google/Yahoo is that they will still come up with links even though it’s not quite relevant. A recently launched toolbar by Mahalo, only comes up with links in it’s sidebar if they are relevant to the search keyword.
Mahalo is targeting Google and Yahoo fans. Their goal is to convert the Google/Yahoo fans to Mahalo search engine addicts. The synchronous search feature called Mahalo Follow Up reads the keywords on a webpage. The company proudly calls it a ‘human powered search engine’. This is because the search engine is human-edited focusing on popular search queries.
Currently, the search engine has 8,800 pages and it is compatible with Mozilla Firefox browser. The difference between this engine and google is the type of queries. Mahalo uses the ‘Fat Tail’ queries, while other search engines use the ‘Long Tail’ method. The Fat Tail query basically means that it only comes up with popular searches.
As of now, the toolbar company employs only about 40 or so people. These folks in the editorial department reviews public submissions via the Greenhouse. Upon visiting the Greenhouse website, I got the impression that almost anyone can work for Mahalo.
Anyway, I think this is a great sidebar. When I entered the phrase ‘digital camera’, the results were awesome. However, for ‘richard macmanus’, Mahalo hardly comes up with anything. But, I do like this one better than Google already! Jason Calacanis, Mahalo CEO is doing a great job in spreading the new sidebar search engine.
