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September 5, 2008 9:45:29 PM CDT

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Wikipedia Founder to Debut Search Engine

Posted Jan 3, 08 7:20 AM CST in Technology 

(Newser) – Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales will open his new project, Wikia Search, next week. Unlike top search giants such as Google and Yahoo, Wikia Search will use open algorithms instead of proprietary search methods. The new engine will also allow users to contribute to—and ideally improve the accuracy of—search results on their own.

Wikia Search will debut with only 50 million to 100 million sites indexed, compared to the billions available through top engines. Some remain skeptical of Wales’ project: “...he doesn't really understand the scale of what Google has to handle in terms of the queries from around the world and the amount of traffic that flows to it,” says one analyst.

Source Associated Press

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Jimmy Wales, seen in this file photo, hopes his Wikia Search project will lend transparency to online searching. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)   (Associated Press)
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, answers a question during an interview with the Associated Press Friday, June 29, 2007, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Wales' new project, Wikia Search, will open to the public...   (Associated Press)
Wikia Search will allow users to improve the accuracy of search results much like the ability to improve articles on Wikipedia.   (Wikia Search)
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