Jason Calacanis launched Mahalo Answers December 15, the latest project from Mahalo, his “human powered search engine, thus adding another human-powered angle to the Mahalo curated search page service he launched in May 2007. The new Q&A service is the mysterious "Project A" which Calacanis was drumming up beta testers for earlier this month.

Generally speaking, Mahalo Answers is a clever mix between Yahoo’s free-wheeling Q&A flux at Yahoo Answers, and Google’s highly researched pay-to-play Google Answers service, which was closed down two years ago. This shiny and new search engine also comes with some cute avatars and virtual currency thrown in.

Just like Yahoo Answers, anyone can ask or answer any question. But Mahalo Answers throws in a twist. If someone really wants to encourage the best answers, they can offer a tip in “Mahalo Dollars,” which can be funded through PayPal and are convertible into real dollars once a member has earned at least 40 of them.

At the top of Mahalo Answers there is a “tip” system where users can tip other users for the best answer. Like Google Answers this is a designated amount, and the system operates by deposit: those wanting answer deposit money into Mahalo (each Mahalo dollar is worth 75 cents in US dollars and once a user has collected more than $40 US in Mahalo dollars, they can cash in their bucks and Mahalo will send them a cheque - keeping 25 per cent for themselves.), and those with the successful answer get paid out 75% of the nominated amount; the business model revolves around Mahalo taking a 25% cut in each successful question.

Google Answers relied on a closed panel of “experts” to answer each question, and you only received one answer. Mahalo Answers is fully open, so anyone can answer a question with a dollar amount, and the best answer nominated by the person asking the question takes the loot.

Nevertheless the service isn’t limited to paid questions. Like Yahoo Answers and similar services Mahalo Answers is completely free if you don’t want to pay for an answer, a key feature missing from Google Answers. However, paid questions get priority in index results, so if you want quality you’re encouraged to pay, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.

The service has a ranking system that drives the Mahalo economy, and which works towards preventing abuse of the system. This means that users who refuse to pay for answers and who post spam will be rated lower in the rankings.

If a user really nails an answer, you can award them the bounty, or renegotiate for a smaller bounty if you aren't completely happy. Users can also tip each other, regardless of who originally asked the question. The user who originally posted a question can also withhold a bounty altogether, but baiting and switching will count against one's reputation on the site, and you'll have to explain your reasoning each time.

Mahalo is a human powered search engine which uses a team of editors to cull the web for information on the most popular search topics. The firm is venture backed by Burda Digital Ventures, CBS, News Corp., and Sequoia Capital.