The idea is not new and makes perfect sense. Think back about the Golden Age of Usenet and how, knowing where to post, it was possible to find out everything about everything in a few hours. Google has tried to integrate newsgroup resources by absorbing deja.com (now groups.google.com) a few years back.

A high degree of specialization of meta-information is made possible by the aggregation of self-defined consumer niches. When users combine their interests in information-driven interest groups they work as producers and consumers of highly focused meta-information.

The dynamic communities of interest in which Usenet is segmented have often been compared to an enormous database in the making. In this ideal database, the structure is given by the entirety of the chosen niche of interests as determined by the technical constraints of the context . However, there are very important differences between standard database engines. The relational aspect may be determined by people either crossing between topics or simply relaying meta-information from different contexts. In other words, the relational aspect of this database is defined by interpersonal exchange rather than sophisticated programming language queries.

It’s easy to see how trying to implement a better, spam-protected usenet could add value to the search engine experience. However I wonder if it will take a little more than the still primitive and buggy Orkut interface. Rather than rely on a “day off” project like Orkut, Google could definitely get more mileage out of acquiring tribe.net, which with a more stable environment, multiple connecting options (listings and tribes) and RSS feeds is definitely way ahead.