Google's dominance in the internet search industry could be challenged by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, an expert has suggested.According to Mike Reddy, head of interactive technology at the University of Wales, the principles of open access and knowledge sharing championed by Mr Wales could be used to create a search engine capable of surpassing Google's success, the Western Mail reports.
He stated that a search facility based on people-to-people recommendations has significant potential, adding: "It's still an open ball game for companies to come along and out-Google Google."
Mr Wales is currently in the process of developing Wikia Search, an open source internet search engine to which users can contribute. An alpha version of Wikia Search was launched last month.
According to Mr Reddy, a search engine which is capable of finding the most relevant facts has not yet been devised, with companies so far relying on computer technology to scan web pages for key words.
He goes on to say this is an inefficient way of identifying the relevance of a website, stating that the "best 'search' is recommendation by a human being", such as that advocated by Mr Wales.
The launch of Wikia Search on January 7th was met with a widely critical reception, with many industry analysts dubbing the engine a total disappointment.
However, Wikia Search has defended itself by claiming that it has yet to build up the data it requires to operate successfully.
Indeed, in a statement, the company said: "Before we start, we have no user feedback data. So the results are pretty bad. But we expect them to improve rapidly in coming weeks."
