When dealing with the search industry, many wonder which engine has the most relevant results. This issue can be debated endlessly without either party agreeing on a consensus.
This, however, may be changing, at least concerning Yahoo and Google search. Thanks to DoubleTrust.net, a quasi-meta search engine that pulls its results from Google and Yahoo. These results are then combined and listed in order for users to decide which listing is most relevant to them.
According to a report issued by Andy Beal, DoubleTrust is based on the premise of trusting the two top search entities, instead of relying on an individual set of results.
When DoubleTrust returns search results, the top listings are provided according to a mutual agreement when comparing Yahoo’s and Google’s search results for that particular query. In other words, the top listings in DoubleTrust are considered a consensus of Yahoo’s and Google’s top listings.
DoubleTrust refers to these various top listings as Top Stars, while the remaining results are called “orphans”. This method of search result delivery informs users which results are shared and which ones are unique. DoubleTrust is the brainchild of Northwestern University’s Department of Computer Science. The developers also keep a blog in order to inform those who are curious about DoubleTrust’s behind the scenes business.
Their current blog entry helps explain the motivation behind DoubleTrust:
It is based on the simple premise that trusting two authorities is better than one. By presenting the intersection and non-intersection of Google and Yahoo very clearly, it shows the best results according to their MUTUAL agreement, and also the remaining sites which are unique to each engine (the ORPHANS), giving more options to the user.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest search news.
