Trumalia: a Search-ertainment Engine for Riddle Lovers and Artists
Trumalia sent me a press release a couple months ago and I sent back an email interview.

I was intrigued by the idea - a search engine with a built-in riddle with cash for rewards - but I never got super excited about their execution and never posted their responses to my questions. I'm kind of a dick like that.

I got another email recently from dauntless Trumalia PR rep Irene Huhulea to let me know that the first riddle got solved.

...I guess I didn't realize quite how involved the riddle actually was... this is from the press release:

The Kammers spent a frenzied day flying to and from the Californian Anza Borrego Desert in order to dig up their prize. “Well it was quite a trip I can tell you that…we managed to get to the location in CA around noon local time…we spent the better part of an hour digging underneath it [a false lead] to no avail. Refusing to give up, however, we referred back to our GPS device, and found the exact spot to which the numbers directed us. It was then that we noticed a rock all by itself next to a bush...and the rest, as they say, is history”.

Um... holy crap! That's neat!

Here's the Trumalia blog, which has pics of the father/son team who found the prize and here's Trumalia's MySpace profile page.

And Irene, thank you so much for continuing to email even after I quit returning emails. I really appreciate your persistence.

What is the Trumalia business model?
Enigmas and art aside, Trumalia functions as a very efficient search portal.

Our business model is therefore like that of many other engines -- we generate revenue from paid listings that run alongside our results. Our hope is that users who visit Trumalia to solve the enigmas and view our collection contemporary art will also choose to make Trumalia their search portal.


Do you think you'll make enough in ad revenues to pay for the rewards?
The rewards are already funded. While the cash prize for retrieving each of the three buried artifacts is set at $1,000, the grand prize for solving all four enigmas grows based on site usage. In short, while the grand prize will never be less than several thousand dollars, it has the potential to grow into a very substantial reward.

Can you invision a search entertainment project that would not require payment or reward of any kind?
Our hope is that people will attempt to solve our enigmas out of intellectual curiosity and a sense of adventure. The prizes may motivate some users, but I think our search entertainment project would draw an audience without any offer of material reward. That said, I believe search engines that find creative ways to entertain users have great potential. Engines have provided news, stock quotes, weather updates, etc. for years; however, there are certainly other ways of keeping users entertained.

Is there another search-ertainment project that inspired you for this work?
No, although we did draw inspiration from some real-life treasure hunts that have eluded code breakers for years. In addition, we were aware of the popularity of small-scale treasure hunts in the UK.

What is your background in search and/or development?
Our lead programmer worked at Lycos for years, and also has significant experience working with meta-search engines. Combined with our founder's extensive study of the search business, and my three years of experience with SEO, we've managed to assemble a team that is quite comfortable running a search portal.

Who have been your most avid searchers thus far?
So far, our most avid searchers have been individuals who appreciate a good mental challenge, making them a bit brainier than your average searcher. In close second are lovers of art who enjoying viewing our constantly growing collection of contemporary paintings and drawings.

How can Trumalia users communicate with one another to help each other solve the puzzles? Do you have any way to update people when certain pieces of the puzzle have been solved?
Although we don't run a forum specifically for Trumalia users to communicate with each other, we anticipate that our users will create one. Dave Magnuson, our founder, posts useful tips and information about Trumalia on his blog: www.trumalia.blogspot.com. Users are encouraged to post their comments there as well.

When a puzzle is solved, we will immediately notify our users via a statement on www.trumalia.net. In addition, a notification will be broadcast via the Trumalia blog.

The more I think about Trumalia the more I like it, and I'm reminded of why I was intrigued in the first place: search *itself* can be entertainment.

I'd like to see more search entertainment concepts that are this elaborate - you know of any?

In some ways I think we can tag this "search engine marketing" in that they launched their search engine with a contest. I haven't dug into their search engine *at all* but I think their idea could have been a great addition to Snap's blog marketing efforts.

Too bad Snap's contest is over ;)

Follow up questions: what do you do when all the riddles are solved? Is that the end of the game? Do you hope that by then people will continue using your search engine?

...also I'm still a little bit confused about what your overall goals are... Are you trying to make a living from this search engine? What direction are you going in? Help me see your overall vision for this project.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |