Mahalo: It's Not Just Your Grandmother's Search Engine

There's a lot of controversy on the web right now about the new Mahalo search engine. Pundits are joyfully predicting its downfall before it has even passed the Alpha stage. Mahalo employees and users are just as enthusiastically predicting its eventual world domination. I think the true usefulness of Mahalo lies in the fact that it's unlikely either to take over or to fail, but to consistently and quietly serve as a valuable tool for web users.

I started writing search engine result pages for Mahalo about a month ago out of a need to pay my bills. I didn't know or care what Mahalo's purpose was, so long as they weren't harming puppies or small children. I did like the idea of saying to my friends, "What do you mean, have I heard of this band? I wrote the search engine result page for them!"

As I began learning the ins and outs of writing these pages (primarily by studying the Mahalo pages made by other guides), I became aware of Mahalo's purpose anyway. Like many people, I thought it seemed a lovely idea for those poor souls who weren't capable of searching for themselves. It wasn't until I found myself bookmarking half the links I found on those Mahalo pages that I realized something important: This is not just your elderly grandmother's search engine.

Mahalo is an awesome resource. Perhaps all the controversy surrounding it is due to a misunderstanding of how it can best be used. I doubt it was ever intended to replace Google, especially since it incorporates Google results when there isn't an appropriate Mahalo page. I think Mahalo's intended function is to reduce Google type searching and save time, and it has done that marvelously for me.