Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has launched a new search engine based on trusted feedback from a community of users.

An alpha version of Wikia Search aims to provide a viable alternative to the likes of Google by allowing signed-up users to submit ratings on search results.

"Search is a fundamental part of the infrastructure of the internet, and should be done in an open, objective and accountable way," said Wales.

"Wikia Search, which we have been working on for a long time, represents the first draft of the future of search."

Wales admitted that the very nature of the site means that it will take time for the effect to be noticeable, as its community-driven remit will take a while to build up entries.

"Of course, before we start, we have no user feedback data. So the results are pretty bad. But we expect them to improve rapidly in the coming weeks," he said.

Wales believes that the new search engine adheres to the Four Organising Principles on which the future of internet search must be based. These are:

Transparency
Openness in how the systems and algorithms operate in the form of open source licences and open content APIs.

Community
Everyone is able to contribute in some way (as individuals or entire organisations) to a strong social and community focus.

Quality
Significantly improve the relevancy and accuracy of search results and the searching experience.

Privacy
Privacy must be protected. Do not store or transmit any identifying data.