In our April-May edition Eurekster co-founder Gary Franklin introduced us to the search engine that was beginning to make Google and Yahoo a little nervous. Six months later the other co-founder, Grant Ryan, is feeling very confident about �taking on the big boys�.

 

But before we get into that, you need to know what Eurekster is, because it�s quite unique.

 

If you haven�t heard about Eurekster, then pause for a moment and do two things. Firstly go visit their website (www.eurekster.com). Then read our earlier article by Gary Franklin (click here).

 

Okay, hopefully now we�re all on the same page.

 

But, for those that ignored the suggestions and just kept on reading, Eurekster is a next-generation search engine based on communities of interest. Rather than searching on casting - to use Gary�s example � and receiving generic search results on fishing, metallurgy and acting, Eurekster operates as a locally hosted search engine specific to a particular area of interest. Thus if you go to �Sam�s Fishing Website� and enter your Eurekster search, it will automatically know you�re into fishing, and not looking for an audition or an ingot.

 

Eurekster also features community defined �buzzclouds� of key search terms, and allows for community group members to assist in finding information where the search trawls up inadequate results.

 

But like all new things, the challenge for Eurekster is to get people to move away from the existing alternatives and towards their new way of doing web searches. And this is a challenge.

 

Certainly the competitive advantage is there.

 

Eurekster co-founder Grant Ryan describes the existing search engines as �like TV; there is simply no way you can interact�. Eurekster, conversely, lets users take control of the �swicki� (the local search community) and define key terms. You have the ability to make your swicki the very best in the world for your area of interest, such as �mountain biking Christchurch�.

 

Design your search site with the best information and suddenly you have the ability to make your page the authority on this particular subject. That generates traffic, which generates potential advertising revenue and so on�

 

Eurekster is essentially offering a kind of �cyber-democracy�, much like the online encyclopedia WIkipedia. Instead of some central body or complex  piece of software determining what will be spat up when you type in �arm-wrestling Wellington�, the capital�s prominent arm-wrestling enthusiasts decide for themselves.

 

�Local interest groups suddenly realise that they have control�, says Ryan, �and this forms the foundation for encouraging existing search engine users to try something new�.

 

One thing Eurekster does not do is draw people to its own homepage. Instead they use locally hosted buzzclouds (see image at top) to attract people�s attention. Eurekster�s research indicates that the buzzclouds generate 600 � 700% more searches.

 

In order to get people to change to use Eurekster �the focus is on building critical mass via buzzclouds and getting people to add them to their sites�, says Ryan. This �empowerment� of local communities of interest is viewed as the strategy for consumer change most likely to bear fruit.

 

This �organising of the Internet� as Ryan puts it, is about allowing individual groups to build something of value; something they can actually earn revenue off of as a result of their skills and knowledge in a specifically defined area.

 

It is all about �search decentralisation�.

 

The behaviour change requirement is actually not that high according to Ryan, because it is simply an extension of what we are already doing.

 

�When you search for jobs or travel information you don�t typically go to Google, you go to Seek or Tripadvisor; you find a secondary search engine. Eurekster works the same�, says Ryan.

 

This process is called �verticalising�; using a customised, specific, secondary search engine that gives you exactly what you want in a particular area. Trademe is another example of a �vertical search engine�.

 

The fact is, we use them all the time, and this may be the secret to Eurekster�s success: the brains behind the search engine have looked at how we search and taken it the next evolutionary step, and handed power back to the consumer as a result.

 

But change is change, and Eurekster is aware that they must first excite the early adopters, those warriors of the online world who determine what lives and what dies on the Internet. If the early adopters like the engine � and it seems they do � then they use it, and they write about it in their blogs and they influence others with their opinions.

 

To this end the Eurkester team is ensuring the first wave of techno-philes have sufficient tools and incentives to encourage them to give Eurekster swickis a go.

 

And this is working so well that there is currently a rush on the good swicki names, much as occurred in the early days of the Internet with domain names: those that get in first get the good stuff, make some money and service their communities in the process.

 

Ryan puts it simply: �if we can create a system to empower all the intelligent, creative people of the world, how can we not win�.

 

But you can bet �the big boys� � namely Google and Yahoo � have a close eye on the ostentatious Kiwis who dare to take them on head-on.

 

�Yeah�, says Ryan, �they�re now playing around with similar ideas, but the fact is they can�t really allow people to alter search results like we can because their whole brand is based on basic trust relationships. We�re allowing people to add, delete, control search results, and that�s a risk Google can�t afford to take�.

 

 

 

Fraser Scott is the Managing Director of True North Consulting, and provides business and development services to designindustry.