Emily Chang - eHub Interviews

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Posted May 25, 2006
eHub Interviews Huckabuck

Thanks to Blake Killian and the team at Huckabuck for this email interview.

eHub: What is your web application/service about?

Huckabuck: Huckabuck is a new search interface. We call it a search interface because it is more than just a metasearch engine. When you submit a search query, it searches the three major engines: Google, Yahoo, and MSN. But what makes Huckabuck different is that we enable you to tune your search to match your personal preferences for each engine. This tuning is done through a graphic equalizer style interface that is instantly recognizable to the user. In addition, we enable you to set search presets that automatically adjust your weighting of each of the engines based on what you are looking for; currently we have shopping, social, and research presets.

eHub: Why did you start this project?

Huckabuck: Huckabuck started with a quest to build a search engine with a very open algorithm. Search engines have always been built with one size fits all algorithms that present the same search results for a keyword without regard to what type of search you are performing. We wanted to build a search engine that empowered the user to take control of as much of the search algorithm as possible.

The idea for Huckabuck came together in October of last year as we had just arrived back in New Orleans after evacuating for Hurricane Katrina. We had been searching for an opportunity to help New Orleans possibly through a non-profit venture or something similar. We struck upon the idea of creating a for-profit search engine with a built in strong social mission. We decided that Huckabuck would give 10% of its profits back to New Orleans charities on an annual basis. This way every search on Huckabuck would help New Orleans.

And the rest is history and history in the making.

eHub: How much time do you devote to its growth?  Do you have a day job?

Huckabuck: We are currently working on Huckabuck full time. It is our day job. We are in the unique position to be self-funded through other projects that enable us to pursue projects like Huckabuck. Development to get us to the point we are today has taken us just over 5 months. There are still a few tweaks we are making to the current version of Huckabuck, but plan to launch a new version later this summer. The new version will feature new innovations that will help drive our search capabilities forward.

eHub: How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?

Huckabuck: Our team consists of 8 members.
1. Chris Schultz is the founder of Huckabuck, and president/founder of Voodoo Ventures, Huckabuck’s parent company. Voodoo Ventures is a self funded incubator currently developing four different web applications including Huckabuck. Chris founded Destination VIP, Inc. and travel and destination management company that was acquired in March 2005. He remains an owner and majority stakeholder in that company.

2. Blake Killian is a founding member of the Huckabuck team, and is the project’s marketing director. Blake has managed several projects for Voodoo Ventures, including media relations campaigns, Internet marketing initiatives, and new project development and coordination.

3. Oleg Kurnosov and his team comprise the rest of our team. They are based in Kazan, Russia and have worked with Chris on a variety of projects for the past 5 years. They are development kings and are very, very good at what they do.

eHub: What is your design philosophy?

Huckabuck: We like to think of ourselves as being a Web 2.0 company. Web 2.0 dictates simple, clean interfaces, and intuitive functionality. We love white space and simple text navigation. Navigation shouldn’t be a hassle, and can’t be a chore for the user. Things (sign-ups, site goals) need to be short and simple. Be concise. Be good.

eHub: What technologies are you currently using?

Huckabuck: Huckabuck is built on a Ruby on Rails architecture. This has been a very flexible development platform for rapid development and modular construction of the site. In addition we have tried to employ Ajax functionality in a spare but meaningful way. We want to simplify tasks by keeping users located on the same page where without Ajax they would be transfered through multiple pages to accomplish a task. In addition, we use Ajax to power our proprietary Search Tuner, which has an application like interface and drops down within any page on the site to enable users to tune their search preferences.

eHub: What are the most requested features from your users/community?

Huckabuck: We have developed a search tuner to make Huckabuck unique, so we get a lot of feedback on how that feature should be utilized. Some prefer it to open and displaying when you come to the site. Others like the option to open it, because when it’s closed it keeps things simple and clean.

Our users, especially here in New Orleans, also want a plug-in created for their personal sites. They want to support Huckabuck’s mission, and more importantly, they want to use Huckabuck to search. We are currently developing the plug-in.
In addition to those features, we are currently underway with a project to add several additional engines to the interface. We will be adding a tagging engine, a blog engine, and a news engine within the next two months.

eHub: Does your user base reside in a primary geographic location or is it distributed?

Huckabuck: We launched local, national and online media campaigns. Our online campaign has been particularly successful, and we have been picked up by bloggers worldwide. We currently have very heavy traffic loads from France and Germany. We also have traffic from Brazil. Interestingly, more than 50% of our traffic is from overseas.

eHub: Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months?  The next 2 years?

Huckabuck: The next 6 months will see us refining the current site. The next 2 years will see us venturing into social search, tagging, and more. We’ve got a few exciting ideas that we are currently specking out.

eHub: What is the greatest challenge to your success?

Huckabuck: Well, Google and Yahoo!, for starters. We’re lovers, not haters. We’re not in this to topple G (ha! Because you know we could, sheesh). We’re in this to learn, to help New Orleans, and to see what we’re capable of. We want to give users an interface that is like an overlay on top of traditional search engines. Through our interface, they can tune in or out perceived biases those engines have. We feel that Huckabuck is a true value add to the search world.

eHub: What is the one thing you need to get to the next phase of the project?

Huckabuck: Traffic. And we’re working on it.

eHub: Do you have a business model?  If so, what is it?

Huckabuck: Yes. We will be monetizing traffic through traditional PPC advertising. We are adding our PPC feed in 10 days.

eHub: If you’re able to disclose this information, how much traffic or usage do you see on an average day?

Huckabuck: We try to be transparent and open with our launch and our growth. Huckabuck is getting about 500 searches a day.

eHub: What is the one thing you’re most proud of about the project?

Huckabuck: I am most proud of the fact that we can go to www.huckabuck.com and see our site there in all its glory. It’s beautiful, it works and it brings value to those who use it. Being valuable and not fluff is what makes me most proud.

eHub: How would you describe the shift that’s occurring with the web right now to future generations?

Huckabuck: Something big is on its way. Right now technology and social networks are merging, but they are still limited to interaction between you and the computer, and among the younger, college-aged set. Future generations will sleep with a computer under their heads at night, will brush their teeth with technology, and will wear innovation to work. Technology has always made life easier, and it will undoubtedly make like even easier and better than it is currently in my lifetime.

eHub: What site(s) do you visit everyday other than your own?

Huckabuck:
Basecamp - couldn’t work without it
Flickr
My.Yahoo - and all the blogs and RSS that entails
USA Today/NYTimes/ClickZ

eHub: How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Huckabuck: Eight. That’s right, I have to sleep...a lot.

Thanks to Blake Killian and the team at Huckabuck for this email interview.

Visit Huckabuck
Originally added to eHub on Apr 12, 06

» More eHub Interviews

eHub Interviews is a series with the creators of Web 2.0 applications and services by Emily Chang, author of eHub, designer, and co-founder and principal of Ideacodes, a strategic web consultancy in San Francisco that she co-founded with Max Kiesler.

Also see eHub Interviews in Japanese at CNET Japan