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Today we’re excited to announce the beta launch of Grindr Web, a new way for our community to stay connected right from their computer. Now you can browse and chat from the comfort of your own laptop or on the go via your mobile browser. Now, you might be wondering: “Uh… I need a web version when I already have the app? ” Well, we’re glad you asked. Sometimes you don’t have your phone handy, or maybe you can’t tell if someone looks like the guy who works at your gym who you’ve always had a crush on. Grindr Web displays larger photos to match the often larger screens of desktop and laptop computers. Web experience also shows 6 profiles across as opposed to the 3 profiles displayed on the App. Grindr Web makes it easier to chat with potential connections, letting you chat while also browsing the grid (for the multitaskers among us) all from your keyboard and including shortcuts.
Many people find it easier to navigate computer browsers than apps. With Grindr Web, you can chat with a possible hookup while you answer your boss’s email on your phone. By enabling both app and web options, we let users choose the experience that’s right for them whether they're at home, at work, or needing to log onto a friend’s laptop because their phone died in the middle of setting up a date. For people who aren’t yet out of the closet they may feel less comfortable downloading the Grindr App and keeping it on their phone. Grindr Web creates an easy way to reach the Grindr community without having to keep an app installed. Download once, set up your subscription, and you can connect with the community from any browser to chat with folks around you. Also, for discreet users, if you get caught browsing Grindr on your laptop, just press the ESC key three times fast and Grindr Web will close and open Google. Your boss won’t even notice that you haven’t been diligently googling vacation recs for him. Grindr Web is exclusively available to our XTRA and Unlimited subscribers. Don’t stare at your phone all day. Log on to Grindr Web and see how much more fun it is to type “Hey man, what’s up? ” on your laptop.
One of the most important navigational tools on the Internet is the search engine. Search engines have come and gone, but most of them followed the same strategy -- using a search algorithm to scan Web pages for the user's search terms. Web page publishers figured this out pretty quickly, and soon users were browsing through irrelevant sites just because the page's owner had hidden every search term imaginable in the page's html code. Mahalo is revolutionizing search engines with a new mission -- to give users a hassle-free, informative and relevant experience. Instead of relying on a complex algorithm to generate search results, Mahalo uses human beings. Real, live people research each search term, seeking out the sites that best fit the user's request. While most search engines depend on complex algorithms developed by a small group of people, Mahalo searches are the result of hundreds of people working to sort out the absolute best of the Web. Instead, Mahalo contributors submit search results pages (SeRPs) to a centralized database, called the Mahalo Greenhouse.
When the SeRP has a few great links in it, Mahalo publishes it to the Web, giving users access to the search results. Each SeRP includes a completion percentage, indicating how close Mahalo employees feel the results fit their ideal of 100 percent of the best links on the Web relating to that topic. The easiest way to understand the philosophy behind the Mahalo search engine is to use it. When you search for a term like "Hawaii," for example, you'll see that links are organized into subcategories. The first subcategory is "The Mahalo Top 7," a list of seven sites Mahalo employees feel are the most relevant to the term. Other subcategories include Hawaii Vacations, Hawaii State Government, Hawaii State History and Hawaii State News, among others. You can scan a search result to look for the information you need and continue browsing other links, knowing that each one is the result of careful research.
In this article, we'll learn about Mahalo's internal structure and explore what the Mahalo search experience is like. We'll look at the Mahalo Greenhouse database, where employees build and tweak search results. And, we'll find out how to build a SeRP and work for Mahalo. In the next section, we'll learn what happens when you enter a search into Mahalo. Mahalo is a Hawaiian word that means "thank you." The company's motto is "We're here to help," and the site has a Hawaiian print motif. Even Mahalo's symbol for excellent links is a Hawaiian reference -- it's an icon representing the shaka sign, a hand with the thumb and pinky finger extended, often used in Hawaii for greetings or hanging ten. These symbols are used to tag links. Warning tags: These tags tell the user that the link might be very good, but it has some things Mahalo usually tries to avoid, like pop-up ads and intrusive music, or parts of it are written in languages other than English.
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