I’ve been using or being bugged by “The Next” search engine called Aardvark for about six months now and didn’t even know Google had acquired it until i started writing this post. In theory an engine based on person-2-person communications could work, but you’ll need some controls to remove scammers, schemers, con-artists, recruiters, head hunters and over-all creepy people from Aardvark’s engine. In reality, I don’t see that being a feasible plan with 90,000 users in October of 2009 and growing.
Here’s how it all works:
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Sign up and fill out the normal info. From there, you choose topics that you “know” about.
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Then you can Ask a question and people who have tagged your keywords will respond…
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…or you can Answer questions.
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Questions like the one above have infested Aardvark and are downright blatant attempts to gain my information. This type of search engine won’t fully function in mainstream if anyone can be an “expert” in anything and fill the site with mindless noise. Does “Arthur” really want me to believe that a less-than-computer-savvy user signs himself up for an account on Aardvark, uses emoticons and is an avid Google Earth participant (which doesn’t require a password) needs my help to find his password by having me email him? For six months my phone beeps every 10 minutes with a notification to answer a question from Google Chat (which I signed up for, but when it serves little purpose to their core function, it’s irritating).
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In Conclusion
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Will I be leaving Google here any time soon for Aardvark? Probably not. And I’d recommend the same for you. But if you do find search engines frustrating, I’ll offer you some quick tips:
- Search for ONLY the necessary keywords and avoid asking the search engine a question like you would a person. Can you help me find out how to change a tire? Use this instead: How to change tire, or this: change tire how-to. Remember, you’re talking to a smart computer that collect these keywords and is trying its best to match them to your inquiry.
- Use quotes in limited amounts along with other specific keywords, like: how to install “Android on an HTC HD2” and the result will be any page that has the words “how, to, install” will match up with the words “Android on an HTC HD2” exactly as they appear in that order. This ensures you’re not getting any junk.
- Dig! Avoid bouncing from search engine to search engine because they are all indexing the same web. And you could prolong your search looking past sites you’ve already visited.
