Jason Calacanis is really growing Mahalo into something special.
Mahalo is a human edited search engine (he calls it web “curation”) that seeks to eliminate spam from results by 100% through the use of real people writing search results instead of a “gamable” algorithm.
Dmoz failed at the human edited directory eventually. Calacanis seems to have found the formula for making it work this time.
He has a paid staff to review link submissions and has figured out the best way to put a TON of people to work for the company through his Greenhouse program.
If you sign up for the Greenhouse program you are paid to submit search results, or what they call “writing search results pages.” A staff member will review what is submitted and, if accepted, you get paid or you can have the funds sent to their chosen charity, the “Wikimedia Foundation.”
Under this model, Mahalo has what Dmoz did not: an army of willing search editors to fill the site with search results fast.
Volunteerism was a cute attempt for Dmoz when the web was much smaller, but it worked out miserably under their editor model and as the web grew. Volunteers, especially when there aren’t that many, couldn’t or wouldn’t keep up with the web. I was never accepted in my categories at Dmoz. I fit the bill with great content, but no one was on the other end editing my submissions. Many categories at Dmoz ended up this way because they didn’t get the input they needed from tens of thousands of people.
Instead they limited and restricted their editor program so much that it was impossible for the directory to become relevant to users. Too much missing, worthy information and links in every niche.
The Result is Better Results
Mahalo is producing some very good results in many niches and they are fast building a large community of contributors. They have a great, fighting chance of actually keeping up with the growth of good content on the web with this model.
I recommend readers grab an account at Mahalo and play around with it. It really is neat what they’re doing inside. There are a lot of social networking features where you can build a fan base around the links you submit and keep up with other users who are submitting results you’d be interested in.
I don’t think Google can be killed, but if it could, Mahalo would have the best chance of driving the stake through Google’s heart just because people are so sick of search spam.
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Edward Lomax 07.10.08 at 9:30 am
Kind of a shame it has come to this. The Internet is starting to fill up with such junk it gets harder for search engines to filter it out without human interaction.
This sounds like a cool option, and I’ll have to check it out in more detail. Just another incentive to produce high-quality content for your site or blog.
Edward Lomax’s last blog post..Bloggers Field Manual: The Profit Blogging Ready-Load-Aim-Fire Formula
Chuck 07.10.08 at 9:56 am
This is a very interesting concept. And a new one on me
Kelly 07.10.08 at 9:38 pm
Do you know what they pay? I’m curious and don’t see anything obvious about it on their site.
Kelly’s last blog post..New! Product Launch Coaching Pack
Jack Humphrey 07.11.08 at 5:42 am
Kelly,
I read somewhere in Mahalo that it was $10-$15 per accepted results page. I checked out what they are seeking for results pages to be written and it seemed a pretty huge database, so there’s definitely a lot to do there for Greenhouse members.
Matt Selznick 07.11.08 at 10:48 am
Thanks for the positive profile of Mahalo.com! To address Kelly and Jack Humphrey, we are actively seeking excellent writers to work as freelancers in our Mahalo Greenhouse and in other capacities.
In the Greenhouse, folks can be paid for search results pages they build that are accepted for use on Mahalo.com. We also have an hourly freelance position for people looking for a higher level of commitment — details are here.
Jack Humphrey 07.12.08 at 7:07 pm
Wow - what an opportunity! I suggest checking this out if you are in need of extra work. Someone who excels here will be positioned to work for and move up in what I believe is going to be a very large, very successful company.
Thanks for sharing that Matt!