Jimmy Wales has shuttered Wikia Search. The engine which used crowdsourcing and where anyone could modify natural results is the latest casualty of the recession.
The announcement was made on Wales’ blog this morning. “In a different economy, we would continue to fund Wikia Search indefinitely,” he wrote, “[we] will be re-directing and refocusing resources on other Wikia.com properties, especially on Wikianswers.”
Launched in January of 2008, the engine never really caught on and was harshly criticized.
Even though in the past year it was the fifth fastest growing member community destination in February, at 172% growth, it wasn’t enough to secure even a sliver of the search market share.
“If there is one thing that I’ve learned in my career, it is to do more of what’s working, and less of what’s not,” Wales wrote.
RIP, Wikia Search.
