In the ever-growing quest to find the perfect search engine, another has emerged that seems like it might be quite useful.
Zakta.com is a search engine that also acts like a social network. It claims that by organizing the web, and allowing users to save their searches, it makes searching a faster and more effective process.
The new search engine is able to organize search results into sections, making searching through results a more comprehensible process. Unlike some other new search engines which built their knowledge base as people use them, Zakta already has built-in knowledge of more than three million informational topics. For example, if the user were to perform a search for a drug, Zakta’s results will show how it works, dosage information, side effects, etc.
As with everything Web 2.0 these days, it’s also possible to personalize Zakta. The process is not dissimilar from what iGoogle already offers, with the ability to delete, or change the order of, search results. It is also possible to annotate, tag, and classify any result that the user would like to keep. Results can also be saved into a personal file for use later on.
Users can also share information gleaned from searches through Zakta Guides. The guides are a collaborative, interactive process that is similar to Wikipedia, though perhaps slightly less involved. Whether or not users will take the time to build these guides remains to be seen.
As with any other social network, users can connect with other likeminded searchers, and even find experts on the topics they are searching for – something which students and researchers are bound to find particularly useful. It’s possible for users to search results they like with their Zakta friends’ recommendations, and users will automatically be notified when their friend gives a ‘thumbs-up’ sign to a search result in which they have an interest.
So how is Zakta better than Google? Well in their “tour” flash presentation available on the site, they explain that with Google, you can search for a place and find instant gratification. However, searching for information is a more difficult process, sifting through over 50,000,000 results, as in a search for “college financial aid” is a much more lengthy and often frustrating process. This, they explain, is where Zakta comes in. Since so many people are often searching for the same thing, Zakta’s aim is to put these people into contact with each other, and have them organize results into comprehensive search listings.
It’s a concept that really takes the wisdom of the crowds to the max. However, for it to work, many people will have to engage with it. With so many search engines out there competing for users, this goal might be a struggle.
Kaila Krayewski is a freelance journalist with a passion for all things internet. Having worked for nearly two years as the public relations manager for an internation search engine optimization company, and publishing hundreds of articles (how-to, informational, and otherwise) on SEO, she knows a thing or two about the field. Furthermore, having just started up her own website blondetraveler.com, she is doing her best to keep one step ahead of the search engines in order to keep the traffic flowing.
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