SIU grads behind MonsterCrawler.com

By Sun Min

Southern Illinois University graduates are behind one of the most visited search engines worldwide.  MonsterCrawler.com, which utilizes results from Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search and Ask.com to search sites, is led by SIUC journalism alumnus Charles M. Stuhrenberg, business graduate Ted M. Rose, university studies alum David S. Holt and education alumna Shirley Smith Koenig.

“We conceived the idea while fishing on Lake Kinkaid over a few beers,” said CEO Stuhrenberg.  Founded in 1999, MonsterCrawler allows users to filter potentially explicit content from search results and to choose how to display and group results.  

MonsterCrawler combines the power of all leading search engines in one search box to deliver the best combined results.  The process is more efficient and yields more relevant results. 

"We have an incredibly strong following of devoted users that enjoy a more comprehensive search.  We hope to build on this base of loyalty while providing additional features that create a better search experience for all," Stuhrenberg said. 

The site gets about 300,000 page views per month. In all, monstercrawler.com has had more than 20,000,000 page views.

Stuhrenberg attributes his success to a commitment to constantly reinventing his company and he advises future business leaders to do the same.  “Be prepared to make mistakes as you start new business endeavors, and if you do make mistakes, learn from them.  Always get feedback from several different sources before you rush into anything new,” he said.   “We hope to bring in new investors and possibly go public in several years.”