Metacrawler
MonsterCrawler is a consumer-facing metasearch engine operated by RMG Ltd. (London) that aggregates and deduplicates results from Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, and Ask.com, serving worldwide end users via a free, ad-supported website.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Metacrawler does
Metacrawler, operating under the brand MonsterCrawler, is a metasearch engine that aggregates web results from multiple leading search engines — Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, and Ask.com — into a single deduplicated result set. Founded in 1999 by Southern Illinois University graduates and originally popular in U.S. Midwest college markets, the service now serves a worldwide consumer audience via monstercrawler.com. The platform's core technology is a proprietary algorithmic metasearch engine that eliminates duplicate results and dynamically blends/ranks outputs based on query context, with commercial queries weighted toward commercial pages and informational queries toward articles and research. Supporting product surfaces include web, image, video, and news search, plus user-facing preference settings for content filtering (explicit content) and result display/grouping customization.
The company is a subsidiary of RMG (Reverse Media Group), a UK-registered holding company (RMG Ltd.) headquartered at 1 Lindsey Street, London. RMG acquired MonsterCrawler in 2016 to continue the metasearch mission; the service was originally launched in Carbondale, Illinois, and now operates globally. The business model is advertising-based: the consumer-facing search service is free, commercial use of the site requires a separate agreement with RMG Ltd., and an advertising inquiry form is offered on the contact page. Distribution is entirely self-serve / product-led through direct website access, with growth driven by organic search visibility and word-of-mouth. The leadership team consists of CEO Chuck Stuhrenberg; headcount is reported at 1–10 employees, consistent with a small subsidiary operation rather than an independently scaled enterprise.
Metacrawler firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Metacrawler
- Legal name
- RMG Ltd.
- Website
- https://monstercrawler.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- MonsterCrawler is a consumer-facing metasearch engine operated by RMG Ltd. (London) that aggregates and deduplicates results from Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, and Ask.com, serving worldwide end users via a free, ad-supported website.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Metacrawler industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Metasearch Engine
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Meta-Search & Search Aggregators (BPAMAAAC)
Keywords
Where Metacrawler is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Metacrawler business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Advertising Revenue: The company generates revenue through advertising, as evidenced by the contact page offering an advertising inquiry form. The Terms of Use indicate that commercial use of the website requires entering into an agreement with RMG Ltd.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels1 record
Metacrawler product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Metacrawler operates a metasearch engine that aggregates and blends results from multiple leading search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, and Ask.com) into a single results page. The platform eliminates duplicate listings, dynamically ranks results based on query context, and offers search modes for web, images, videos, and news. The service is provided free to consumer end-users and is monetized through advertising.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- MonsterCrawler Metasearch Engine A consumer-facing metasearch platform that simultaneously queries multiple major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, Ask.com), removes duplicate results, and re-ranks them dynamically based on the context of the user's query. Supports web, image, video, and news search modes and includes user-configurable content filtering and results display preferences. Free to end-users; commercial licensing is available via direct contact.
Companies that use Metacrawler
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Metacrawler technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature5 records
Metacrawler partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- RMG (Reverse Media Group)flagshipRMG acquired MonsterCrawler in 2016 to continue its mission to provide high quality metasearch. RMG owns and operates the MonsterCrawler brand and platform.
- GooglecoreGoogle provides search results that are aggregated and deduplicated within Monster Crawler's metasearch platform. This is a core data integration essential to the product offering.
- YahoocoreYahoo provides search results that are aggregated and deduplicated within Monster Crawler's metasearch platform. This is a core data integration essential to the product offering.
- MSN Live SearchcoreMSN Live Search provides search results that are aggregated and deduplicated within Monster Crawler's metasearch platform. This is a core data integration essential to the product offering.
- Ask.comcoreAsk.com provides search results that are aggregated and deduplicated within Monster Crawler's metasearch platform. This is a core data integration essential to the product offering.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Metacrawler competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- SearxNG: SearxNG is an open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple search engines with privacy protections. It represents the open-source / community-driven counterpart in the same product category as MonsterCrawler.
- Mojeek: Mojeek is an independent crawler-based search engine offering an alternative to Google/Bing indexes. It competes for the same privacy-conscious and alternative-search user as MonsterCrawler's audience.
- Yippy Search: Yippy provides clustered metasearch results by aggregating from multiple engines and grouping results by topic. It is comparable as a niche consumer metasearch portal targeting users who want broader or filtered coverage than Google alone.
- Brave Search: Brave Search operates its own index combined with fallback results from other providers. It overlaps with MonsterCrawler in the privacy-first, alternative-search-engine category targeted at consumer users.
Broad incumbents
- Google (Search): Google Search is the dominant general-purpose search engine against which all metasearch aggregators compete for end-user queries. It is the primary upstream data provider for MonsterCrawler and the principal competitive alternative for the same user.
- Bing: Bing (Microsoft) is a general-purpose search engine and is the successor to MSN Live Search, which MonsterCrawler lists as an integration. It serves the same end-user search need as MonsterCrawler via its own consumer portal.
Direct peers
- Startpage: Startpage (Surfboard Holding) provides Google-powered results with privacy protections, positioned as an alternative to searching engines directly. It is comparable as a third-party search portal that aggregates results from a major engine for end users.
- MetaCrawler (InfoSpace): MetaCrawler (owned by InfoSpace) was a pioneering metasearch engine that aggregated multiple search providers into a single results page. The name is essentially identical to the subject company's internal name 'Metacrawler' and the product is directly comparable.
- Dogpile: Dogpile was one of the original metasearch engines aggregating results from Google, Yahoo, Bing and others. It is the most direct historical analogue to MonsterCrawler's product, serving the same consumer use case of cross-engine web search.
- WebCrawler: WebCrawler is one of the earliest consumer web search engines and operated as a metasearch aggregator. Its consumer-facing search portal product competes for the same user need as MonsterCrawler.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Metacrawler financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Metacrawler leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Metacrawler funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Metacrawler M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Metacrawler
What does Metacrawler do?
Metacrawler operates a metasearch engine that aggregates and blends results from multiple leading search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, and Ask.com) into a single results page. The platform eliminates duplicate listings, dynamically ranks results based on query context, and offers search modes for web, images, videos, and news. The service is provided free to consumer end-users and is monetized through advertising.
Is Metacrawler a public or private company?
Metacrawler is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Metacrawler founded?
Metacrawler was founded in 1999. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Metacrawler based?
Metacrawler is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Metacrawler make money?
One revenue line is on record: advertising Revenue.
Who are Metacrawler's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are SearxNG, Mojeek, Yippy Search and Brave Search. Broad incumbents are Google (Search) and Bing. Direct peers are Startpage, MetaCrawler (InfoSpace), Dogpile and WebCrawler.
Does Metacrawler have an API?
No public API is recorded for Metacrawler.
What industry is Metacrawler in?
Metacrawler's product category is Metasearch Engine. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAAAC, Meta-Search & Search Aggregators. Its NAICS code is 519290 and its SIC code is 7372.