auditoriumA - Human Search

AuditoriumA.com is a human guided search service that guides people through their queries via a striking visual platform. The service uses intuitive site visualizations to guide users to quality cultural events, performances, speeches, articles, documentaries and other subjects. Founder Tony Mars sent us a private preview of version 2.0, and we thought you would be interested in this striking service. Tony has also provided Profy readers with a special invitation to try out auditoriumA via this exclusive link. 

Search Philosophy

AuditoriumA connects busy professionals and Web novices with some of the Web's best offerings. Unlike Mahalo and some others, auditoriumA does not imitate the search engine experience. Relevance represented with beautiful aesthetics combined with quality content by any standard - is the holy grail of this niche market. AuditoriumA is appealing to people who want quality - fast, pure and simple. AuditoriumA is more a service than an application, and not unlike Wikia Search and Wikipedia in practice. In short, this service is about relatively exclusive and unique content for people with discerning taste and no time for BS. Tony's told me in his own words: “Whether a user likes or dislikes any subject - the thing can be recognized for its quality.” 

Features

Users of auditoriumA are confronted with a very simple UI. Primary navigation is via a single click on images linking to indexed pages. Categories are subdivided with further graphical representations of links to suggested sites or suggested content. Here are some of the categories and their functions.

• Main Stage - Daily updated best selections section
• Premium Search - The service comes in free and paid versions, the paid versions allow for advanced research
• Call Backs- New discoveries bookmarked for review
• Audience Participation - An area for user discoveries and submissions
• Spotlight- Highlights from the very best of auditoriumA
• WebTV - A selection of unique and high quality links accessible via media player
• ToGo- Hand picked podcasts via sources from the NY Times to PBS
• Music - Streams from Pop to Classical to Jazz
• News - Everyday news favorites including around the world in a click an analysis
• Blogs- A selection of some of the Web's best blogs
• Reference- Library caliber resources from Britannica to Wikipedia and beyond
• Tools- Again, a selection of the Web's best tools from Thinkfree to Google and more
• How to Guides - Another selection of suggested sites for quick reference
• Shopping - Some of the best shopping sites on the Web

Pros

Human search can provide the most relevant and meaningful answers to selected questions. Problems arise when objectivity or long tailed querries present themselves, but auditoriumA sidesteps these by targeting new Internet users and people on the go. The content on the site is exceptional and the presentation is beautiful. In house editors filter external submissions via Amazon's Mechanical Turk in a Wikipedia like fashion, so content on the service is essentially dual filtered for presentation to users. This methodology applied to a rather narrow niche makes for a very effective recommendation engine.

Cons

Content on the site is not as extensive as it could be. However, the biggest drawback to any human suggestion service is obviously the people doing the searching. AuditoriumA is not for everyone, nor was it intended to be. After talking with Tony for 2 hours I began to realize that the service is indelibly imprinted with his taste. This is a good thing for many people who will identify with excellent content, but it is also the biggest problem for establishing credibility in the short term. Everyone does not have the editor's taste in excellence however quantified. Calling the service a search engine is a stretch as it can really be classified as a recommendation service.

Conclusion

AuditoriumA is a free and a subscription service that affords value on several levels. It is not perfect, but human suggestion augmented by Web 2.0 technology will ultimately supplant algorithms to a large extent. Combined with semantic type search and other “meaning” based modalities - this selective view of the Web is the only natural progression. The down side to sites like this is that they reflect a narrow view and often skew objectivity. Tony called his creation the “anti-do-it-yourself” solution for no-tech or business people, and this is one way of speeding and refining personal surfing. This is a great site with tons of potential and its success will be determined like so many others; by content, flexibility and continued improvements and value.