Wikia layoffs ground Jimbo's imaginary jet

Sad news for Jimbo Wales: He may not get that personal jet. Back in February, when Wikipedia's self-styled Spiritual Leader used his free online encyclopedia to seduce an overzealous eBay user, he confessed the true motivation behind his for-profit Wikia venture. A day before she perused his Willypedia, Wales told onetime Fox …

[Anonymous Coward]

Err that was yahoo's model

send a human to rate the site.

Problem is it can be gamed a bit, and algorithms work better for the pros, that's why Google is number one really.

See, someone has to come in and install the browser, they set the homepage to google and google wins. But, the reason that homepage is set to Google, is Google makes more sense for those producing commercial websites. We can sell our skills again to SEO the site. A rating system is too subjective.

So, if you want to beat Google, just make sure your search engine is website developer friendly and we will sort out the home page.

[Charles Manning]

Is it possible to Out-Google Google?

I'm all for choice and smaller providers are often better than larger providers. But that only works for some products, and definitely not for search.

In search, having the choice of 20 smaller search engines is of no benefit. Who'd want to do have to do many searches when one Google search gives you all the results? Now that Google is head and shoulders above the rest (added together) then it is very hard for anyone to knock them down. The money & effort to build a competing engine is just too huge,

GImmicks like the wiki thing or the pathetic Cuil attempt just don't matter if the core function is not there.

Wiki might work for some things, like the encyclopedia, but wiki searching is just nonsense. Who's going to go through the piles of hits and rank them?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Revenue

What is Wikipedia's business model anyway? How is it actually supposed to make any money? Or is that question, like, SO pre-dot-com?

[An ominous cow herd]

Ahh, but Google does the same!

Google also subcontracts people to test the quality of localized query results.

You can develop a very good search algorythm, but you'll only be sure it's good when you test it against end-users, and that's what all the search engines must do.

[Elmer Phud]

re:'Is it possible to Out-Google Google?'

Years ago, before there was a Google (no, Google was not part of the set-up in the Garden of Eden(tm) ) I used Copernic to wander through various search engines and list results in a manner of my choosing.

You don't go off and do loads of searches - just the one that wanders off and looks by itself.

That and the 'save search' options came in very handy at the time.

You got to know which search engines would produce the best results depending on what you were after - just searching academic sites? - no probs, just want to look for media gossip? fire off the search at your preferred gossip sites.

Grouping search results and ignoring multiple returns form the same site was also rather handy.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Jimmy Floyd

"What is Wikipedia's business model anyway? How is it actually supposed to make any money?"

Are we talking about the same Wikipedia which is run by the non-profit charitable organisation known as the Wikimedia Foundation?

How indeed is this non-profit project supposed to make any money? Does anyone know?

[Anonymous Coward]

@ @Jimmy Floyd

Actually, surely non-charities still need to "make money", that is generate revenue, they're just supposed to reinvest any surplusses either in the company or return it somehow to users or other charitable causes.

Buying board members' private jets is definitely on the NOT ALLOWED list though.

[Nick L]

re:'Is it possible to Out-Google Google?'

>You don't go off and do loads of searches - just the one that wanders off and looks by itself.

Kind of like Metacrawler used to be ? Have to admit I've not used metacrawler for years - might go off and see how it performs now ...

[Sceptical Bastard]

Here ya go, Jimbo - all yours

Hello Jim Wales, I trust, my good friend and brother in Wikipedia

I know you have a business model of inestimable repute so i am writing to you TODAY

I am the manager of Internet AeroCraft Trust here in Nigeria. In my department we discovered an abandoned Boeing 747 worth US$20.5m Dollars ( TWENTY MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND US DOLLARS) which belonged to A President who died along with his entire family in a plane crash.

We have been expecting his next of kin is reclaiming the jet aeroplane but unfortunately we learn that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him.

So I am deciding to make this business proposal to you because you crave AeroPlane. I want to release the Boeing 707 to you since nobody is coming for it and we don't want it to go into the Bank Treasury as unclaimed bill.

I am needing a small fee to release this Aerocraft as it is all explained in your Wikipedia. Trusting to hear from you with your BANK ACCOUNT details including your PIN which is necessary for you to claim your rightful Boeing Aeroplane.

Mr. Abdullubah Mousaka

MANAGER

[Nick L]

@metacrawler

Well I tried metacrawler after a break of a few years ... and four of its top five results were Google ads. And only one of them was to do with the search terms.

[ratfox]

actively hiring in sales and marketing

Ah... They realised they had nothing to sell, then?

[Captain DaFt]

You can out_google google easily

After all, they are an ad company, the search engine is just the way they draw in the eyeballs to view the ads! Just come up with something that draws the eyeballs, sell ads, PROFIT!

(By the way, check out my new ad sites: Fluffybabyanimals.com, Bigboobsandexplosions,com, and freebeerandtermpapers,com)

[Kane]

@ Sceptical Bastard

Made me chuckle!

You certainly live up to your namesake don't you?