Are All Search Engine Results Created Equal?

Of course not.

The metasearch engine, Dogpile has released a study that found that the first page results from the top four Search Engines (SE) don't have much in common at all.  In fact, their study calculated that only 1.1% of the first page results across Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask Jeeves were identical.

A closer look at their findings reveal:

• 1.1% of results were shared by all four SE
• 2.6% of results were shared by three SE
• 11.4% of results were shared by two SE
• 84.9% of results were unique to one SE

This has some interesting implications for the people and organizations that use SE.  Too many people, myself included, rely one one or two SE when searching for information.  We are missing out on some potentially useful information by not broadening our search providers.  In addition, businesses that obsess over high rankings in one or two SE, can be missing a good sized chunk of the searching public by limiting their focus.

To read the full study, click here.

Dogpile also has a neat tool that visually shows you the difference in the results returned by three SE.  Go to their Search Comparison Tool and enter a keyword phrase.  What is returned is a Venn diagram showing which results are either shared or unique among the three.  Then the tool will show you what results Dogpile would have returned.  This tool also gives you the ability to change what SE are being tested.

Not surprisingly, the study concludes by saying searching all the leading SE at once, Dogpile gives its users a better chance of finding what they are searching for.