Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Declares Wikia Search Dead
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced that Wikia Search, a community-based search engine, is officially shutting down. Unlike Google, whose search relies on algorithms, user ratings and input determine the results ranking in Wikia Search. Before its demise, Wikia Search had been the fifth-fastest-growing member community destination in February 2009, after Twitter, Zimbio, Facebook and Multiply.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on March 31 pulled the plug on Wikia Search, a community-based search engine that relied on user participation to rank results."While I personally believe in the opportunity for free software to make serious inroads into the search space, our project, Wikia Search, has not been enjoying the kind of success that we had hoped," Wales wrote on his personal blog. "In a different economy, we would continue to fund Wikia Search indefinitely. It's something I care about deeply."
According to Nielsen Online, Wikia had been the fifth-fastest-growing member community destination in February 2009, with its 3.75 million users representing a 172 percent increase over its 1.38 million users in February 2008. In the same survey, Twitter came in first, followed by Zimbio, Facebook, Multiply and then Wikia. Wikia was founded by Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley in 2004, first under the name 'Wikicities,' which was shortened to 'Wikia' in 2006 after a round of venture funding. While parts of the site had been experiencing growth recently, including Wikianswers, Wikia Search had reportedly been receiving only 10,000 unique visitors per month.













