Spock will do to People Search what Google did to Search
Remember the days before Google existed? How hard was to find information on the web about something you wanted to look-up? I remember when search was considered a dead category. Pundits said there was no way to make money from search, so why invest in it. Internet executives said search was something that drove people to other websites, so why even build a search engine. That is why Yahoo, Excite, MSN and other popular portals of the 1990’s placed search bars at the bottom of the page — to keep users on their property.
The sad truth was that since people did not know what they were missing, as no one could deliver the entire web to them, they didn’t complain. It was like living in a cave, ignorant of not only what was outside, but even that there was an outside.
When Google came along in 1999, they placed a high emphasis on technology, delivered a great user experience, and intelligently indexed the entire web. Move ahead to 2008, and many people don’t remember what search was like before Google and how people were able to discover information in the “dark ages”.
In early 2007, people search was in the same position as search was in 1997. Not many companies or sites placing an emphasis on deep technology, a great user experience, or indexing everyone in the world. Much of people search today is fragmented, closed, and in silos; just like search was in 1997. Even more, much of people search exists in the dark. Not many people know all the great information that exists in the world about people, and how we are all connected.
Spock came along in 2007 with a mission to create a search result of everyone in the world and make it freely accessible. With our emphasis on user experience, using great technology along with great community contribution, and our focus on people search, hopefully, someday in the future, when people think about learning more about someone else, they will think of Spock first.
Just like there was with search, there are critics of people search who question its utility. You could stay in the cave, but I’d encourage you to try and imagine the possibilities that the future of people search holds. A great people search engine can enrich your knowledge of people in your life - and your own life as well.
January 20, 2008 at 3:22 am
well this is a nice service I wonder how different it will be with my membership to this site:
http://peterahon.qassia.com/
signing up here…
January 21, 2008 at 7:38 am
hm… quite strong and ambitious, but your know it’s exactly what I was telling to the people who asked me about Spock!
I think this could be quite achievable- good luck Guys!
p.s. nice writing from the point of view of CEO, brava Maia!
Regards,
Andrey Golub- an excited Spock (heavy) user
February 4, 2008 at 8:55 pm
My family is slow to check out spock (i tend to be obsessed about stuff like this!) but they’ll find it on their own eventually. i truly believe that Spock will continue and continue and continue to grow and expand and become more accurate, suffer a few nasty tagging events from time to time, recover and grow even stronger.
There are two major things going for it that all other services that attempt this herculean feat fail at:
1) Spock.com is FAST! Blindingly so. Search takes at most three seconds, usually less. Adding tags or voting is even quicker.
2) Spock.com is user-controllable. My gosh, for all the talk of Web 2.0, spock is actually doing it! As a regular user you have the power to add obscure historical facts to historical figures. You can not only TELL the world about your love of underwater spelunking, you can also easily FIND others with the same tag, creating an ad-hoc community without being bogged down by extra features we already have like email and such.
KISS. Spock has some powerful muscle behind its simple usability. The interface is pure “Keep It Simple, Stupid”, which is web 2.0 all the way.
Will it become the Google of people search? Frankly, it HAS to. Nothing comes close.
http://www.spock.com/Kenneth-Udut-zeeIb1Ou
February 17, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I found Spock in the beginning of January 08′ and have dragged in with me many of my friends. I love the idea of a people search and have always wanted a Google for my name. Now it exists, Thank You Spock!!!