We live in a world that is dominated by technology and information.

If you think about it, it’s pretty incredible. At no point in history has our species been so interconnected, or had the ability to communicate, discover, and learn at the rate that is currently possible.

However, what I find truly fascinating is that for all the knowledge our species possesses, our reliance on computers and search engines for accessing this data is immense. Search engines and the internet in general are truly the foundation of this technological age.

The stats are pretty insane. I mean, did you know that Google receives over 63,000 searchers per second on an average day, or that the average user searches 3-4 times each day?

The fact of the matter is that search engines play a massive role in our society and how we function. I think we largely take these platforms for granted, and while I don’t exactly like Google for a myriad of reasons I won’t get into, I acknowledge the importance of their role.

Given the scale of companies like Google, it’s not surprising that they heavily invest into their tech to deliver the best possible experience to users.

One of the ways they do this is through hiring search engine evaluators, who are responsible for manually reviewing search results to help improve algorithm performance.

If you’d like to take part in improving the overall function of search engines while making upwards of $15/hour from the comfort of your own home, a remote search engine evaluator job might be the right choice for you!

Why Companies Hire Search Engine Evaluators

While technology is pretty sophisticated, algorithms aren’t always perfect.

Google, for example, has been increasingly displaying answer snippets to search queries, relying on their algorithm to display answers based on the content it scrapes from top results to serve user intent.

Things don’t always go according to plan, however:

Yup, there was a period in time where snakes had 2 legs and horses had 6, according to Google snippets. This was largely because content from Wikipedia had been tampered with, but Google didn’t know any better and decided to cite the information.

Algorithms also make mistakes, and they don’t always understand nuances or what content is relevant. Sometimes a human element is the only solution to finding weak points in the system.

What Is A Search Engine Evaluator Job?

In general, search engine evaluators will work to improve results for 2 different engines: Google or Bing.

Google and Bing have their own ranking algorithms and guidelines, but the idea behind working for either search engine is very similar.

Once you successfully complete some training and understand the guidelines that are used to rank content (there are over 200 ranking factors for Google), you can start to evaluate websites, search results, featured snippets, images, and other information that is returned from search queries.

Search engine evaluators are responsible for monitoring search engine results to look for these sorts of errors, and to gradually improve and maintain the quality of search engines and user experience.

Depending on your contract terms and length, you might have to work through hours of queries each week, or perhaps just an hour or 2 per day. The amount of work you get completely depends on the company you work with, as well as the current demand and your experience level.

The Best Search Engine Evaluator Jobs

While it will be difficult to fill a 40 hour work week as a search engine evaluation, this is a fairly flexible way to make money online and to get a decent hourly pay.

It can be difficult to be approved to work as a search engine evaluator. However, the following companies give you the best shot at landing a job and somewhat-steady working hours.

When it comes to finding online work as a search engine evaluator, Appen is one of the most popular platforms people turn to.

Appen’s goal is to provide ‘high quality training data for machine learning, enhanced by human interaction.’ Appen actually offers a wide range of services across multiple industries, and specialize in helping organizations improve their AI.

Working as an Appen search engine evaluator has perks. The contract terms can last several months, and Appen is looking for workers from over 40+ countries right now.

You don’t necessarily need a degree to work for Appen. Degrees may help if they are in linguistics, but Appen also hires people with social media experience or who have prior experience in QA work.

All you have to do to apply is to select your country of work and to fill out a brief registration form to be considered. You will also have to pass an assessment if you are approved to work with Appen.

Appen pays an average of $14//hour for search engine work according to Glassdoor, making it a decently paying work from home opportunity that doesn’t require any phone calls or interaction with clients.

Note: Appen has acquired Leapforce and RaterLabs, which were other popular options for evaluator jobs, so keep this in mind when doing your research!

Lionbridge, also known as The Smart Crowd, is another company with a focus on data and AI, and they have plenty of work from home opportunities if you’re looking to make extra cash!

From translation/transcription services to QA testing, Lionbridge helps companies test their software and improve their AI capabilities by using their own technology alongside a human component.

Unsurprisingly, Lionbridge also frequently hires search engine evaluators just like Appen, and the signup process and requirements are quite similar. You simply have to fill out an application package which includes some info on your past employment, provide a resume, and list the country you will be working from. You will also have to complete a short assessment.

Lionbridge provides work for a variety of evaluation projects, including general search results, social media content monitoring, and online map specialists.

Lionbridge search engine evaluators can earn between $12-$16 per hour, so the pay average is quite similar to Appen.

From what I’ve heard, your pay scale can vary depending on the country you work from, so expect your earnings to be highest if you are from the United States, Canada, or Europe.

Formerly known as ZeroChaos, Workforce Logiq has actually been in business since 1999, and primarily helps businesses with their HR and recruitment processes by using human + data driven methods to increase efficiency.

Workforce Logiq doesn’t exclusively hire evaluators, but none of these companies do. However, Workforce Logiq does hire quite a few ad evaluators for Google, and while this job requires additional training and experience outside of normal evaluation work, the duties are similar. If you want to rate the quality of online search ads on behalf of Google, this is the job for you!

Workforce Logiq pays their ad evaluators approximately $16/hour, but their job postings seem somewhat sporadic.

In terms of hourly pay and actual weekly work volume, I generally recommend checking Appen and Lionbridge first. However, if you’re having trouble securing work as a search engine evaluator, I’d bookmark this one.

iSoftStone is a Chinese based company that uses crowd sourcing to provide their services to clients.

Data entry, hardware testing, translation, data integrity testing, and evaluation are just some of the jobs available on iSoftStone. This company isn’t always actively hiring search engine evaluators, but they generally have ad evaluator jobs available like Workforce Logiq.

iSoftStone contracts very in length, but they require their remote workers to put in at least 10 hours a week. Freelancers are capped at 25 hours per week, and pay starts at $13/hour.

Working As An Ads evaluator & social media evaluator

Search engines aren’t the only algorithms that require monitoring and improvement. If you want some alternative options to working with search engines, there are plenty of similar opportunities that involve ads or social media.

Google and Facebook actually hire remote workers to monitor the quality and relevance of their ads. Most of their hiring is still outsourced through companies like Appen or Lionbridge, and the pay is often comparable or better.

Finding work as a social media evaluator can be difficult, and these jobs don’t usually offer full time hours. However, you can still make some decent money on the side if you land a solid contract.

Additionally, many of these jobs prohibit their evaluators from working for multiple companies/competitors simultaneously. I’m unsure if you could work as an Appen search engine evaluator and an advertisement evaluator at the same time, but perhaps that is possible.

Again, these jobs probably can’t replace your full time income in most scenarios, but they are still a great option. If you pair this sort of work with various gig economy jobs, you can definitely pull in some significant income.

Pros, Cons & Alternatives

Like anything you spend your time on, there’s a mixture of pros and cons for search engine evaluation work.

The Pros:

Gain valuable experience – QA work is always in high demand, and efforts to improve AI and algorithm accuracy aren’t going anywhere.

QA work is always in high demand, and efforts to improve AI and algorithm accuracy aren’t going anywhere. Decent pay – $14/hour seems to be the rough average.

$14/hour seems to be the rough average. Limited equipment – A fast internet connection and reliable computer is all you need…plus, no dealing with clients!

The Cons:

Repetitive work – While you will gain valuable experience through an evaluator job, the work is incredibly repetitive.

While you will gain valuable experience through an evaluator job, the work is incredibly repetitive. Volatile hours – Contracts might have a set term, but your hourly work week can still fluctuate significantly.

Contracts might have a set term, but your hourly work week can still fluctuate significantly. Pay caps – $16/hour is basically the maximum you can ever earn with this side hustle.

If you’re looking for alternative lines of work, anything in the QA field will have similar requirements and not require you to deal with clients too often.

You could consider getting into website user testing, but there are so many money making ideas that you can turn to if you need some extra cash.

Search engine evaluator jobs won’t make you rich, but at the end of the day, this is one of the better paying online jobs you can find, provided you land a decent contract.

That’s all for this one! Catch you guys in the next post!