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Search Wikia launched an alpha version to the public today. Wikia, Inc., the for-profit wiki company started by Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley and creators of Wikipedia owns the open source search engine.

Wikia was first proposed by Wales in December 2006, his stance; “search should be open, transparent, participatory, and democratic.”

Bloggers and journalists fond of hyperbole wondered if Search Wikia was a part of the new order of search engines poised to become a “Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) killer.”

I’m interrupting this post to vent. It’s a real shame when an otherwise respectable bastion of responsible journalism like The Christian Science Monitor hops aboard the hyperbole train. It is worse when they’ve convinced themselves they’re above sensationalism by using quotes around “Google killer” as though to say “We’re not saying it is, but some people are calling it that.”

Expect I haven’t found a single article that even hints it could be a Google killer, only journalists saying someone said it. So I ask “Who on God’s green earth called Search Wikia a Google Killer?

Like all open source content, the community drives the software. Users rank the most helpful sites and those rankings, along with a simple algorithm will determine the order of results.

Also, like open source content, there is a risk in assuming people are basically going to do what’s right, so the site is vulnerable to manipulation.

While I know Google must guard how it compiles search results to remain profitable, call it trade secrets a magician never reveal his tricks, whatever. But I do wish it was a little more forthcoming with information.

In any event, Wales doesn’t foresee killing Google, he’s shooting for 5% of the market (I couldn’t resist the delicious temptation of using a source from Wikipedia in a post about open source Search Wikia at least once).