Eurekster's Steven Marder on rapid growth of social search and "swickis"

A growing number of bloggers and other topic-specific Web publishers are discovering the benefits of combining algorithmic-based search with the wisdom of the crowd and other social networking attributes.

More than 23,000 of these publishers are using customized social search widgets supplied by Eurekster to improve the search experience for their site users, according to Steven Marder, co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based startup.

Marder says more than 100,000 of these "swickis" are in use. That's double the number Eurekster reported in March, when it said it had raised a $5.5 million Series B round. 

While it's hard to pull off social search for general-interest consumer searches  -- which is why the algorithm-based searches provided by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft will continue to dominate that market -- swickis are a good fit for vertical or localized search.

"We help our publishers generate a better user experience in the form of more relevant results," Marder tells Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco in this interview. That translates into more paid clicks, which Eurekster gets a share of.

Founded in 2004, Eurekster now provides 20 million searches per month and expects to reach a break-even financial status next year, Marder says.  

Last month, Eurekster added video search capabilities to its platform through a partnership with Blinkx, which Marder describes here. To see his original Vator.tv video pitch, click here.