The Search Engine Relevancy Challenge

On April 13, 2005, we wrote a blog entry at the Search Engine Roundtable about the The Search Engine Relevancy Challenge. In that entry, we proposed the idea of giving searchers, consisting of SEOs, SEMs, Webmasters and those interested in search theory, the ability to rate the relevancy of one of the big four search engines.

RustyBrick decided to build a white-labeled search engine that pulled results randomly from one of the major four search engines.

Search Engines:

Supporters:

Google Yahoo! Search MSN Search Ask Jeeves

Text Link Ads PR Web SEO PR RustyBrick

The results are taken from one of the four engines listed above and placed within RustySearch, a white-labeled search engine. The purpose is for you to test the results, and judge on a subjective level, what the relevancy of the result are, on a one to five scale. We understand that there are other factors outside of what we can test that count for relevancy, but we cannot possibly test each one. We are using the provided API's and RSS feeds to pull the results from the search engines.

How To Use RustySearch?

1. Go to RustySearch (will open in new window)
2. Enter a search phrase and click search
3. Click on the title, the URL or the "rate this result" link. The site will open up in a framed window, so do not open the result in a new window.
4. At the top, there is a frame that says, "Rate the relevancy of this Web page for 'search phrase here'". Rate the result from one to five, one meaning a very poor relevancy and five meaning an excellent relevancy.
5. After you click a radio option, it should read, "Thanks for your input! Your vote (and many others) will decide who, really, is the search engine king!"
6. Then click on the button to take you back to the results
7. Continue on by rating the next result on that page, or search on a different result.
8. Repeat...

Start by visiting RustySearch - Here!

Results:

The results of the study will be published in about a month, June 1st. A link to the results can be found here, and at the blog listed at the top of this page. Please subscribe to the blog's RSS feed for up-to-date search engine optimization news and the results from this study. If you have any questions, please visit the thread on this topic at Search Engine Watch Forums.

Updates:

For most up-to-date results please make sure to visit The Search Engine Roundtable on a frequent basis. Here are some updates we have posted at The Search Engine Roundtable in the past:

• Live: RustySearch Results
• June 20, 2005: RustySearch Results 10,000 Mark
• May 19, 2005: 8,000 Rated RustySearches
• May 12, 2005: RustySearch Hits 5,000 Rated Searches
• May 6, 2005: Early Results from RustySearch

For The Search Engine Relevancy Challenge sponsorship opportunities, please contact barry @ rustybrick.com.