Pay-per-click search network ABCSearch has acquired Aftervote.com, a social search engine, for an undisclosed sum.
ABCSearch will re-launch a revamped and re-named version of the site on June 1, said Daniel Yomtobian, president and CEO of Sherman Oaks, CA-based ABCSearch. Yomtobian declined to say what the name of the new site will be.
Aftervote takes its results from the three major search engines — Google, Yahoo and MSN. The site then asks its users to weigh search results in terms of relevance. Yomtobian described it as “Google with a MySpace type of twist.”
Although these search engines’ algorithms do a good job, they should not be solely relied upon to determine what search results are most relevant. “Computers are smart, but humans are smarter,” Yomtobian said.
The problem with Aftervote, however, is that it has been a challenge getting users to participate on the site, Yomtobian said. As a result, ABCSearch has developed an incentive program. As users search, vote and submit comments to the site, they will be able to collect points redeemable for Visa gift cards, Yomtobian said. And if they refer friends to the site, they get 25% of their friends’ votes, he said.
Yomtobian estimated that if a user got 25 of his or her friends to sign on, they could earn as much as $200 a year. “They’re not going to get rich off it, but it will give users more than they’re currently getting,” he said.
