Mahalo: A Retro Approach to Search? - Is it Sustainable?

Okay, time for me to put on my nasty cap. In my research about this site I found out that it doesn't do very well with specific queries, and the narrower your search, the worse it does. Somebody with my range of interests wouldn't use Mahalo as my primary search engine. When I put in a search for "bobbin lace" (making lace is one of my hobbies), rather than getting an impressive page like the one for guitars, I got an "Oops! We haven't hand-written a result page for bobbin lace yet." There is a link to an explanation as to why, and another link that lets you tell them to notify you when they build the page.

They also show "related pages" that already exist on Mahalo...but I'm not sure who or what decided these pages were related. They include pages for sneakers, corsets, oatmeal, and bras. I guess I should count my blessings that sewing machines weren't included (referencing the "bobbin" part) and I can in some way understand why sneakers, corsets, and bras were suggested...but oatmeal?! You got me there.

Fortunately, all was not lost. Below those suggestions, Mahalo returned results from Google for the same search, and they included some beautiful pages, from the purely instructional to those that facilitate the purchase of bobbin lace making supplies. Interestingly, sponsored links were on the bottom, not the top, which is different from the way Google itself presents its results.

I'm mentioning all this now because I think we can conclude, even though it's in alpha, that Mahalo's model is not sustainable -- IF it is looking to become a search engine that competes with Google. But the fact is, it isn't. Calacanis' hopes for Mahalo are more akin to turning it into a "destination site" rather than a search engine. He wants searchers to take their most common, easiest inquiries to Mahalo. Perhaps it can be a place to turn to when you think you'd like to take up a new hobby, or want some news on your favorite celebrities, or need to help the kids with their homework...you get the idea. It's worth noting that Mahalo's technology and health categories did look pretty comprehensive as well.

In short, Mahalo is not a Google killer, but then it's not designed to be. Is there room for this kind of human-powered search in the market? Do people really want it? One must think so, or else there wouldn't be so many social search sites and DMOZ and About.com wouldn't still be hanging in there. But is it where the future of search is going? I have to wonder. They say everything old is new again, but I'll reserve my judgment. Calacanis said he has enough money from investors to keep the company going for five years; my guess is by then he will be ready to sell it to another search engine, possibly even Google itself.