Wales

Wikia Inc., the commercial counterpart to the nonprofit Wikipedia, wants to take as much as 5 percent of the lucrative internet search market from heavyweights like Google and Yahoo, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said at a Tokyo news conference, reports Reuters.

Wales said collaborative search technology could transform the current power structure, especially since the search giants can no longer be considered to have the latest or best search tech. The process of constant improvement via collaboration would also make search technology less susceptible to spam, he said.

Wales, an evangelist for the free sharing of technology, said users could work together to improve search engines, just as users tweak and rewrite Wikipedia articles. Founded in 2004, Wikia gives away its collaboration tools free to users but requires that sites built with its tools link to Wikia.com, which makes money through advertising.

Unlike Wikepedia, much of Wikia's content is geared toward niche communities - those obsessed with topics such as Star Wars or trains, for example.