As the fans of Surf Canyon are already aware, last year we beat out Google, Yahoo! and Bing to win the 2010 About.com Reader’s Choice Award for “Best Search Engine.” For 2011 we are proud to announce that we have been nominated in the category “Best Overall Add-on (Non-security).”

The competition, however, is extremely stiff:

• AdBlock Plus – A perennial favorite, it has been download from Mozilla over 110 million times, has over 2000 user comments and has been the most popular add-on for as long as we can remember.
• DownThemAll! – With over 40 million downloads, this is another favorite for people who want to download videos.
• Greasemonkey – Surf Canyon started out as a Greasemonkey script. With over 40 million downloads, too, not only are we fans, but we owe this one a debt of gratitude.
• StumbleUpon – Funded by some of the most prominent angels in Silicon Valley, acquired by eBay for $75MM in 2007 and then sold back to its founders in 2009, this hugely popular add-on is also one of the most financially successful add-ons ever.

We are honored, as we were last year, to be in such esteemed company. But we, too, bring quite a few things to the table. As the developer of an innovative and powerful search technology, there are few companies (if any) that can lay claim to dramatically improving the relevancy of Google’s own search results. We have also received many plaudits from users and the media as well as significant recognition in the academic community. The future of search, arguably one of the most important endeavors on the internet, is not always easy to see, but we are delivering it for millions of people every day.

So vote for Surf Canyon! Thank you and, as always, we appreciate the support.