Interesting Search Alternatives: Sproose.com

sproose_logo

Sproose is an alternative search engine which shows you organic search results derived from all the major search engines like Google and Yahaoo, but then adds a twists by allowing voting for pages that you like. 

This allows you to not only fine tune and create better search results, but you also get plugged into a network of web sites that have been prioritized for you by other users from their voting as well. 

Some people like to draw comparisons to Digg because of the voting system, but I’d like to think of it as del.icio.us search with organic results built in. 

sproose

Challenges

Currently the biggest challenge for Sproose is the lack of community participation.  Most search terms I tried had few user recommendations if any.  The good news is that whatever it lacks in participation, it makes up with organic search results - which means you still get quality search results in many cases so far. 

Still - The biggest drawback here would be that you only need very few votes to influence placement of a site in the search rankings, thus those sitting at the top of the pile with a few votes may very well be the ‘choices of a few’ rather than the ‘wisdom of a collective’.

To help increase awareness, Sproose has also recently launched a site widget where once installed, visitors to a page can remotely vote for it to increase their ranking in the Sproose search engine index. 

The conclusion

Despite it’s challenges, Sproose looks to me like an alternative search engine to keep on the list when Google doesn’t give you what you want.

At the very least, this is an interesting experiment in search, and I’m rooting for them to succeed.

Disclaimer: Sproose has paid me to test and review their service - and to give an honest opinion. Please note that all opinions expressed in this post are completely my own, and have not been influenced by Sproose in any way.

[tags] search, social networking[/tags]

If you liked this article, subscribe for free via email , or grab our feed.
 

2 People Left Comments



Related Posts:
  • See How Easily You Can Roll Your Own Firefox Search Plugin
  • Exploring Search Innovations With Microsoft Live Search
  • Universal Document Converter : A Review

    • 2 Responses to 'Interesting Search Alternatives: Sproose.com'

    TrackBack to 'Interesting Search Alternatives: Sproose.com'.

    1. TechMalaya said,

      on October 31st, 2007 at 6:50 pm

      nice one. mahalo is also another good alternative. it is based on human powered search.

    2. Mahesh Chawla said,

      on November 3rd, 2007 at 12:11 pm

      Thanks, tried this. It gives quality results.

    Post a comment