Following the launch of Mahalo on May 30, the first half of June 2007 saw numerous critiques of the site (still in its alpha phase). At the New Media Knowledge Forum in London, Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis announced the start of the Mahalo Greenhouse.Calacanis.com: Mahalo Greenhouse Launches (June 13, 2007)

The Mahalo Greenhouse allows remote users to create search results pages (SeRPs) for the site. Selected "part-time guides" (PTGs) were initially offered up to $15 per page, depending on the amount of time it would take to build.TechCrunch: Mahalo Greenhouse: Get Paid To Submit Search Results (June 13, 2007) PTG-submitted pages are edited and revised by an in-house full-time guide (FTG) before being made public on Mahalo.Download Squad: Get paid to Mahalo (June 13, 2008)

Mahalo was praised for its "impressive" and "useful" search results by some.Browser Media: Mahalo – a human edited search engine (June 1, 2007) The spam-free, organized content and integrated usage of RSS feeds earned the site approval from curious users.Marketing Pilgrim: Five Reasons Mahalo Might Work (June 1, 2007)

Skeptics criticized Mahalo for its limited amount of search results.Webware: Jason Calacanis' Mahalo: Screw the long tail (May 30, 2007) At its launch, the site was shy of its goal of having 10,000 indexed terms.

Trust was another issue users had with Mahalo, as some felt uncomfortable having others pick what sites were or were not relevant.Search Insider: Aloha, Mahalo: I'm Betting On the Algorithm (June 5, 2007)