Here is a new concept (at least for me!): Social Search. There is a new start-up in SF that is leading social search call Aardvark (http://vark.com/). The concept is interesting. They describe their services saying, "Aardvark applies advanced technology to identify the right person, among the tens of thousands in your extended network, to answer a particular question; and then lets you reach out without bothering people, spamming friends, or imposing on someone who isn’t interested." In another words, why let Google, Yahoo or Ask answer a question for you when you can ask those in your social network (Facebook, IM lists, etc) for information and get answers that are trusted by peers who know you or of a similar demographic. The picture above describes the process. The site is currently in beta. You can sign up to test the beta product on their website.
