Wikipedia Creator Jimmy Wales is taking on Google. His "Wikia" search is an attempt to harness the collaborative approach of Wikipedia for a Web search. Wikia will open up its algorithm (a la Wikipedia, open source, free software, etc.):

Wales said he also loves the court system because people can go in and watch the proceedings. He wants to deliver the same transparency to search. Contributors will publish, test, research, and modify the algorithms.

Google's director of research, Peter Norvig, notes the problems that could arise from this type of search: