Youlicit Invites Us to Rediscover Search
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Google owes its success to automated search algorithms, but many niche sites and search engines put their faith in the “wisdom of crowds.” Youlicit approaches search from this angle. Founded in 2006, the “discovery engine” hopes to show you parts of the web you'll like based on what you already like.
Youlicit uses something called collaborative filtering to reduce information overload. They focus specifically on user-annotated web data. Some examples of sites they collect information from include Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking site; Digg; Amazon; and similar kinds of sites. They also collect data from their own users. And while the company maintains a web site with a search box, they seem keen to promote their RSS feed, widget, and web browser toolbar (all of which are free, of course).
But why? Youlicit seems to want to give you its services in the background, while you engage in your normal web surfing. If Youlicit finds a site that is similar to the one you're on, it lets you know. You can then see what sites Youlicit turned up with a click of your mouse.
It's pretty clear how Youlicit is different from the major search engines. Rather than using other sites to determine the importance or relevance of a web site through back links, Youlicit looks for sites that people specifically say they find important and interesting. If you're a pro at social media optimization, this probably suggests a way to game Youlicit's system, if you were so inclined. After all, we've all heard of people gaming Digg to get more traffic.
Speaking of which, Youlicit claims they're also different from content aggregators such as Digg. “While Digg, StumbleUpon and other similar services simply aggregate popular content, Youlicit aggregates and analyzes this content and delivers what is most relevant to you based on your interests wherever you would like it: RSS Feeds, on your blog (via the blog widget), or right here on Youlicit! Youlicit also connects you to like-minded people so you can discover more interesting and compelling content through them!”
Next: Testing Youlicit's Judgment >>
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