If you’re at all hip to the jive that is Buzz Out Loud, you’d know that Veronica Belmont has recently left to join the Jason Calacanis upstart Mahalo.com, a human-powered search engine. Because Yahoo! didn’t do that in 1996. Granted, it’s in its Alpha stage, but the site is clunky and ugly and the whole ship is damned from the start due to its antiquted and somewhat pretentious gimmick. I’d hate to even fathom the cash that Calacanis threw Belmont’s way to host a daily videocast on the site, but I have to admit that it’s a good idea. One of the key things that Mahalo needs to separate it from the dozens of more-efficient search engines is a face; a human feel. And the very thing that drew myself and many others to the Buzz Out Loud podcast was Veronica’s approachable, amicable nature. She’s smart and articulate enough to inform but with a fun personality that can at once carry a conversation as well as entertain – something that’s painfully lacking from many podcasts and I’m looking at you, Laporte. She’s savvy no doubt, and with a little more confidence and good execution I think she’ll be able to give Mahalo the identity it needs.

Good luck V, we’re all rooting for you.

• Veronica Belmont Leaves CNet – A Retrospective (Youtube)