Human-Powered Search Engine Will Provide “Natural Language” Function, Naturally

Summary:  Los Angeles-based startup project has created a “natural language” search engine that is as natural as it gets:  search results are provided by actual human beings.  Jatalla.com, provides the Web’s first search engine in which search results are 100% user-generated.

(Original article date:  July 2, 2006 (PRweb))

While search engine monoliths continue trying to teach human language skills to computers, a Los Angeles-based startup project has created a “natural language” function that is as natural as it gets: search results are provided by actual human beings.

Expected for beta release in July, the new search engine, Jatalla.com, provides the Web’s first search engine in which search results are 100% user-generated. Initial announcement of the project in June, 2006, provoked a buzz in the industry as well as an outpouring of enthusiasm from Internet users.

“Judging from the pre-launch response we’re getting, there must be a huge demand for genuine alternatives to the major search engines,” a company representative observed.

This week the creators provided additional insights into how the system works.

Through Jatalla.com, any registered user can submit a vote called a “lexivote”, which consists of two parts: (i) a word or phrase and (ii) a list of up to three URLs. This lexivote is counted along with all other lexivotes that include the exact same term. Thereafter, when a user queries the search engine using that term, a list of URLs—ranked according to these lexivotes—is returned. Each user is limited to only one lexivote per search term.

Aside from providing the lexivote mechanism, the Jatalla.com site encourages users to submit lexivotes in both “structured” syntax—using folksonomic tagging—and natural language syntax. Since results are derived from lexivotes submitted by real, live human beings, the Jatalla.com search engine is expected to handle natural language queries that are as complex and subtle as real, live human speech.

“We think that humans speak human languages fluently, and that computers don’t,” the representative continued. “So-called ‘noise words’ are ‘noise’ to computers simply because they are not as smart as people. It’ll be a long time before even the most powerful computers can compete with a fifth-grader in the realm of human speech.”

The Jatalla.com search engine was created by award-winning product development firm Inventerprise LLC, of Los Angeles, and Viking Web Development, Inc., of Fargo, North Dakota. More information can be found at http://www.jatalla.com.

Jatalla | 100% User-Generated Search Engine Results Featuring the Most Powerful Search Engine on Earth: Your Brain

New Search Engine Uses Distributed Computing System—And the Computers Are Human

In a coup for the “Web 2 .0” movement, a new search engine announced today provides search results that are 100% user-generated. The site, called Jatalla.com, is expected for beta release in July.

(Original article publication date: June 19, 2006 (Inventeprise))

Through Jatalla.com, any registered user can submit a vote called a “lexivote”, which consists of two parts: (i) a word or phrase and (ii) a list of up to three URLs. This lexivote is counted along with all other lexivotes that include the exact same term. Thereafter, when a user queries the search engine using that term, a list of URLs — ranked according to these lexivotes — is returned. Each user is limited to only one lexivote per search term.

The service was developed by Inventerprise LLC, a national award-winning product development company based in Los Angeles, California, and Viking Web Development, based in Fargo, North Dakota. The essential system was created in 1999, and patent filings in 2003 and 2004 disclose not only the current Jatalla.com search engine but also numerous functions not scheduled for deployment until next year. “We’re excited, and we’re counting on users to make the project a success,” an Inventerprise representative noted. “Just like a wiki, a social bookmarking service, or a folksonomic tagging system, Jatalla.com offers 100% user-created and user-maintained content. We provide the vessel; users themselves provide the search results.”

In leveraging the collective intelligence of Internet users worldwide, the Jatalla.com search engine can be likened to a distributed computing system, except that all the search algorithms are contained in people’s heads. Such an approach departs from the computer-based algorithms that drive the dominant search engines of today and leverages increased demand for adding the consumer’s voice to the media chorus.

“We believe that people are still smarter than computers, and that people are better researchers than are computer algorithms,” the representative continued. “Jatalla.com is like a modern ‘John Henry’ story.”

Another noteworthy benefit the new search engine provides is immediate responsiveness. Unlike search engines that rely on automated web crawlers to find new content on the World Wide Web, the Jatalla.com system instantaneously responds to lexivotes, so that Web pages pertaining to a particular news event can appear in search results moments after being posted.

To view screenshots of the beta model, visit http://www.jatalla.com.

—30—