Search Engine Evaluator jobs are super-flexible ways to earn money online.
Working from home as a Search Engine Evaluator is a popular virtual work option mostly because the pay is reasonable and there is absolutely zero phone work involved.
Since several companies hire Search Engine Evaluators and similar positions, there always seems to be opportunities available at any given time, you just have to know where to look.
If you’re internet savvy, comfortable navigating different content, and have a variety of interests and a broad knowledge base, you may just be the perfect Search Engine Evaluator.
What is a Search Engine Evaluator?
You probably haven’t put a lot of thought into how search engines work. After all, search engines, like Google, spend a lot of time and effort into creating algorithms that are meant to give search engine users better results. But did you know there’s a human element to crafting the perfect search result, too?
That’s where Search Engine Evaluators come into play. Search engines are not perfect. And so groups of people, called Search Engine Evaluators, use their knowledge of current events, popular culture, people, and places to rate search engine return results. The hope is that by doing so, users will be given perfect search results each and every time they enter a query into a search engine.
How does Search Engine Evaluation Work?
Let’s say you type the term “Hilton Reservations,” into a search engine. Your most likely intent is to book a room at a Hilton Hotel. But let’s say the search engine gives you a few results about restaurant reservations in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
On the next page of results, there are news articles about Paris Hilton reserving an entire nightclub for her birthday part. You probably won’t be too interested in Hilton Head restaurants or Paris Hilton updates since you were looking to book a room at a Hilton Hotel.
Search Engine Evaluators rate the relevancy of search results based on user queries (queries meaning the terms being searched for, in the above example, Hilton Reservations was the search query).
Where search engines are quite literal in their interpretation of queries, humans can use their knowledge of news, events, and culture to rate search returns based on a user’s likely intent.
What does it take to be a Search Engine Evaluator?
Search Engine Evaluators are heavy internet users. They are comfortable navigating websites, search engines, and generally know how to find things online. A Search Engine Evaluator stays up-to-date on news, current events, and pop culture. They know how to interpret search queries to determine a user’s most likely intent.
So, if you are interested in becoming a Search Engine Evaluator, you should be very familiar with the culture and language of a particular area (often Search Engine Evaluator positions are location based, i.e., United States, Philippines, Netherlands, etc.)
Let’s use Paris Hilton as an example again. Imagine you type “Paris Hilton” into a search engine. Your likely intent is to find current news or biographical information about Paris Hilton. But a nonnative English speaker, unfamiliar with American pop culture, might interpret Paris Hilton to mean Hilton Hotels in Paris, France. You see where the confusion can come in?
It’s important to understand the subtleties of language and the double-meanings of some words because you will be rating search engine results based on user intent (i.e., Paris Hilton and Hilton Hotels in Paris are two very different things!).
Where can I find Search Engine Evaluator Jobs Online?
There are a number of companies that hire various Search Engine Evaluator positions. Often these are contract, part-time positions. However, if you are good rater, you may be given the option to extend a contract.
So, which companies hire Search Engine Evaluators?
If you’re interested in Search Engine Evaluator work, you’ll be happy to know there’s usually at least one opportunity hiring at any given time. In fact, just about every week, I post at least one updated job lead.
Appen
Appen is an award-winning company that helps companies expand into global markets. How do they do this? They are experts in languages and are capable of presenting businesses in over 150 languages. Appen often has work from home positions available, and not just in Search Engine Evaluation. They also offer transcription, translation, and linguist services in tons of different languages. But their more popular position is that of Web Search Evaluator:
Be part of a rapidly growing global network of independent contractors working as Web Search Evaluators! If you are looking for interesting work that adapts to your lifestyle, you have come to the right place. As a Web Search Evaluator with Appen, you will be rewarded for your ability to improve internet search engine results and performance. We offer flexible work schedules, competitive pay, free training, and the ability to work from home.
Appen has recently expanded into Social Media Evaluation,too. This means you can actually get paid to use social media. A Social Media Evaluator works to improve the relevancy of a large tech company’s news feed. Both the Web Search Evaluator and Social Media Evaluator positions are part-time, contract positions.
As a Web Search Evaluator, you typically need to have availability five hours a day, Monday through Friday. Before you are paid to work, you need to go through training which will include practice ratings and tests. If you meet their quality standards on a consistent basis, you can start getting paid!
Leapforce
Leapforce is a well-known company often hiring work from home agents around the globe. As they continue to grow, Leapforce has offered an increasing number of At Home Independent Agent positions. Leapforce is great for bilingual and multilingual candidates because they hire for multiple languages within one country. For example, I often see advertisem*nts for At Home Agents in the United States for candidates that can speak English, Spanish, Chinese, and even Farsi!
Leapforce is experiencing unprecedented demand and growth for qualified home-based independent agents. We are looking for highly educated individuals for an exciting work from home opportunity. Applicants must be self motivated and internet savvy. This is an opportunity to evaluate and improve search engine results for some of the world’s largest internet search engine companies.
Recently, Leapforce added a new position to their At Home Independent Agent lineup called Personalized Search Engine Evaluator. Agents working on this project will be given tasks based upon their personal Google account. Ideally, Agents interested in the Personalized Search Engine Evaluator position are active Google users including Google Play, Google+, and Gmail.
If you’re interested about learning more about the At Home Independent Agent position at Leapforce, you can read up on the position requirements and look through their FAQs.
iSoftStone
iSoftStone often hires Search Engine Analysts for long-term projects. As a Search Engine Analyst, you may be rating the relevancy of landing pages or ads. I’ve worked for iSoftStone as a landing page rater. The support was great, the training extensive, and the flexibility amazing.
iSoftStone is looking for a On line Web Evaluator to join our team in the United States. As an evaluator, you are responsible for rating the content returned by search engines, using in-depth local knowledge of current events, pop culture, news, media and history. This position gives you the opportunity to participate in a long-term project focused on improving the web experience for your country. You will have flexible working terms and work from the comfort of your own home.
The pay rate for Search Engine Analysts starts out at $13.00 per hour. However, if you can consistently work 30+ hours a week and are an accurate rater, you can be bumped up to $14.00 an hour. Raters who work often and with a high-degree of accuracy can earn up to $15.00 an hour. Plus, after 20 hours of work, all raters become eligible for a $50.00 bonus!
You are assigned a point of contact who will guide you through training and answer any questions you may have. As part of training, you are given a 70-something page manual that demonstrates how to rate ads. It is really long and very text heavy. Admittedly, I barely read it through the first time (even though iSoftStone strongly recommends you read it carefully through, twice!).
When I went to take my test, I did not pass the first time, but my score was close enough that I was able to retake the exam. I ended up passing the second time around.
iSoftStone projects work with Bing search engine. So you must use Internet Explorer to work and install a browser extension to submit your ratings. The pay was reasonable, the support was great, and the nature of the work was okay. All in all, I would not hesitate to recommend iSoftStone to anyone wanting to work as a Search Engine Evaluator.
ZeroChaos
Out of all the Search Engine Evaluator companies, ZeroChaos pays the highest at $15.00/hour. They are also the only company to hire Evaluators as W-2 employees (all the other opportunities are 1099 contract positions). ZeroChaos has projects that work to improve Google ad results.
ZeroChaos is recruiting temporary part-time telecommuters with fluency in one of these languages and an in-depth knowledge of their culture to help with Ads Quality Rating for websites for our client, a leading search engine company. We are looking for average internet users to help improve the accuracy/relevancy of the ads that are placed with search results and on websites.
You know how when you search for something in Google, you see paid results or ads at the very top? As anAds Quality Rater for ZeroChaos, you will be helping to improve the accuracy of these ads as well as ads on webpages. I like that ZeroChaos allows you to rate/review ads on a computer or smartphone.
As an Ads Quality Rater, you must commit to a minimum 10 hours per week (but no more than 29). You can work these hours at any time, as long as they’re completed within the assigned week. Once your timesheets are approved, you are paid once weekly via direct deposit.
ZeroChaos typically advertises job openings on the larger Craigslist markets (Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, etc.) At this time, you must be a United States resident since ZeroChaos does not hire workers outside of the U.S.
Get Started as a Search Engine Evaluator
If you think you would make a great Search Engine Evaluator (or ads rater, social media evaluator, or personalized search engine evaluator), you can get started by applying to whichever opportunity or company sounds the most promising. You can’t go wrong with any one of them–Appen, Leapforce, iSoftStone, and ZeroChaos are all reputable companies that pay their workers on time.
If you’re not particular about a certain company or position, perhaps apply to all of them. Remember, no matter which opportunity you choose, working as a Search Engine Evaluator offers good pay, flexibility, and an overall great way to earn money online.
