Advent of the 'Social Search'

Israeli-based Delver is looking to use social networking profiles as the basis for returning relevant Internet searches. The idea is simple enough; a user logs into the search engine and allows access to personal information on sites like del.icio.us, LinkedIn and Flickr.

The system then creates a custom made search pattern based on profiles, tags from your friend's, blogs, and any other available information on social sites. Instead of the traditional text results page, Delver's search engine (called Semingo) displays your search in a web-like graphic, with information built on you and your friends. (Source: zdnet.com)

"People want trusted information from their friends, but may not know who in their network is knowledgeable about a given topic," said Liad Agmon, CEO of Delver. "We make Web search more fun and meaningful by prioritizing results based on a user's network, while enabling the user to discover others in their extended network who share common interests."

Despite the fact that the company is looking to enter the search market, it says it's not looking to compete with the big boys. "We have no intention of competing with the Googles of the world, because Google is doing a very good job of indexing the Web and bringing you the Wikipedia page of every search query you're looking for," said Agmon. Delver's CEO went on to say that Semingo allows people to return to the days of simpler keyword searches, because the site is not designed to optimize commercial results and returns whatever happens to be in your social networking 'web'. (Source: technologyreview.com)

The idea of taking advice from friends on the Internet is similar to Facebook's colossal failure, Beacon. However, Semingo seems to get around the privacy concerns that plagued Beacon by only using information a user allows them to explicitly access plus anything else that is publicly available (like del.icio.us tags).

Delver plans to release Semingo to the public in May, but what I'd like to know is this: do we really need a tool to narrow our views and experiences by restricting search results to information supplied by our online friends?