Searchers is an

internet search engine A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on the Web in response to a user's query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the search results are typically ...

launched to the public in February 2005. It is a locally hosted

web search engine A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...

claiming the largest web index in the United Kingdom. Searchers, named Searchers.com until a branding change in 2008, is owned by Reach Global Ltd. Development on the internet search engine began in 2003 at its headquarters in

Church, Lancashire Church is a large village in Hyndburn, Lancashire, England, situated west of Accrington. The village had a population of 5,186 at the 2011 census, an increase from 3,990 according to the 2001 census. History and geography Church was once a ...

. It was incorporated as Searchers UK Ltd in 2004.

Objectives

Searchers launched to the public in 2005 with the aim of developing a British alternative to US internet search engines serving the UK. Searchers focuses on returning results relevant to UK users and offers the idea of a "pure" search result which is not influenced by keyword manipulation or paid prominence.

Developments

In 2004, Searchers partnered with

Yell A yell is a loud vocalization; see screaming. Yell may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Yell, Shetland, one of the North Isles of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland * Yell Sound, Shetland, Scotland United States * Yell, Tennessee, an uni ...

to offer Yell web links for businesses. By 2005, Searchers was also working with shopping website

Kelkoo Kelkoo is a European price comparison service founded in France in 1999. In 2000 Kelkoo merged with Zoomit, Dondecomprar and Shopgenie. The company was bought by Yahoo! on 26 March, 2004. and was subsequently sold by Yahoo to Jamplant, a Briti ...

to offer users the opportunity to search for products based on product name and category. Other developments have included the showcasing of Diana, an

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

interface, which offered conversational interaction to its web users. The seventh version (v7) of the Searchers

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

was launched in October 2010 and included the basis of the Credibility Score, a "measure of commercial conduct".

Responses

Searchers launched an

advertising campaign An advertising campaign or marketing campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ide ...

on the UK terrestrial channel

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

throughout 2006 and targeted potential web users. A follow-up advertising campaign was broadcast on

in 2009. In October 2010, Searchers parent company Reach Global featured on the BBC website and BBC Radio Lancashire as a local company thriving during a time of hefty public sector cuts. Searchers' potential was discussed in a parliamentary adjournment debate (as Reach Global, its parent company) on 26 January 2011. The debate, entitled UK Internet Search Engines, was raised by

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington, the largest town, and the borough also covers the outlying ...

MP Graham Jones and attended by Culture Minister

Edward Vaizey Edward Henry Butler Vaizey, Baron Vaizey of Didcot, (born 5 June 1968) is a British politician, media columnist, political commentator and barrister who was Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries from 2010 to 2016. A memb ...

. It achieved moderate coverage across a range of print and online news sources, including the Accrington Observer, Tech Watch and

The Register ''The Register'' (often also called El Reg) is a British Technology journalism, technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee (journalist), Mike Magee and John Lettice. The online newspaper's Nameplate_(publishing), masthead Logo, s ...

. A related adjournment debate was scheduled on 5 April 2011 by Esher and Walton MP

Dominic Raab Dominic Rennie Raab ( ; born 25 February 1974) is a British former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor from September 2021 to September 2022 and again from October 2022 to ...

, entitled Net Neutrality, during which Edward Vaizey confirmed his intention to visit Reach Global and its search engine.

References

External links

Searchers
homepage {{DEFAULTSORT:Searchers (Search Engine) Internet search engines