FAROO

Infobox Software
name = FAROO


caption = FAROO screenshot
developer = FAROO GmbH
operating_system = Microsoft Windows
platform = .NET framework and Mono
programming_language = C#
genre = Web search engine
license = Freeware
website = [http://www.faroo.com www.faroo.com]

FAROO is a universal web search engine based on peer-to-peer technology. It uses a distributed crawler that stores search data on users' computers instead of a central server. Whenever a user visits a website, it is automatically indexed and distributed to the network. Ranking is done by comparing usage statistics of users, such as web pages visited, amount of time spent on each page, and whether the pages were bookmarked or printed.cite web
url = http://altsearchengines.com/2007/10/02/great-debate-peer-to-peer-p2p-search-part-i/
title = Great Debate: Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Search Part I
publisher = AltSearchEngines
first = Charles
last = Knight
date = 2007-10-02
accessdate = 2008-07-31] cite web
url = http://venturebeat.com/2007/09/17/new-companies-launch-yap-cognitive-code-viewdle-faroo-more/
title = New companies launch: Yap, Cognitive Code, Viewdle, Faroo & more
publisher = VentureBeat
first = Chris
last = Morrison
date = 2007-09-17
accessdate = 2008-07-19]

FAROO is currently in its beta stage.

Critique

Advantages

* FAROO takes user behavior into account when calculating a website's rank, resulting in more relevant search results than traditional search engines can provide.
* Because pages are automatically indexed upon being visited, updates to the index are nearly instant.
* No central servers are required, drastically reducing infrastructure costs and allowing the service to scale infinitely.
* FAROO plans to share up to 50% of its advertising revenue with its users.

Disadvantages

* The index grows with the user base, so a small user base would result in a small index and therefore inaccurate results.cite web
url = http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/09/17/faroo-wants-to-build-a-better-google-through-peer-to-peer/
title = Faroo wants to build a better Google through peer to peer
publisher = DownloadSquad.com
first = Brad
last = Linder
date = 2007-09-17
accessdate = 2008-07-16]
* The nature of the service allows easy manipulation by spammers,cite web
url = http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9779710-2.html
title = Faroo makes your PC a searchbot
publisher = CNET
first = Rafe
last = Needleman
date = 2007-09-17
accessdate = 2008-07-19] although FAROO claims that their algorithms prevent this.cite web
url = http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/09/17/techcrunch-40-session-1-search-discovery/
title = TechCrunch 40 Session 1: Search & Discovery
publisher = TechCrunch
first = Duncan
last = Riley
date = 2007-09-17
accessdate = 2008-07-19]

References

External links

* [http://www.faroo.com faroo.com]