Blekko announced today that it saw more than 30 million search queries in January, fielding 10 to 15 queries per second.

Internet marketers are closely following the debate between Google and Bing about whether Microsoft is copying Google's search results, but they might not want to get so caught up in the battle between these two search giants that they lose sight of another rising search engine – Blekko.

Blekko announced today that it saw more than 30 million search queries in January, fielding 10 to 15 queries per second.

The slashtag search engine prides itself on its human-filtered results, aimed at ensuring users find only quality content. To maintain its quality standards, the company went a step further last week, banning certain sites that searchers commonly cited as spam.

It seems that consumers are enthusiastic about the human filtering options offered by Blekko, as the company says users have created more than 110,000 slashtags since the company's launch in November. Search marketers should take note that this could be an emerging player in the market.

“We're happy at how quickly users have adopted the idea of a new search engine and have created so many quality slashtags just three months since launch,” said Rich Skrenta, CEO of Blekko. “Our call to rid the web of spam has been heard loud and clear by many and we encourage our community to continue to slash the spam.”

The search engine might soon gain even broader adoption, as it is now available to on-the-go consumers. As Brafton reported, last week the company released mobile applications for iPhone and Android devices.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.