---
title: "Funnelback Search Engine"
ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885.json"
source: "Public Contracts Scotland"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH"
published: "2024-02-01"
---

# Funnelback Search Engine

Buyer: UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885.json)

## Summary

The University of Edinburgh has awarded a contract for the provision of the Funnelback Search Engine. The tender was undertaken using a limited procurement method, with the award made without prior publication of a call for competition. The contract was signed on 15th September 2023, with a contract value of £177,282. The University is the buying organization, based in Edinburgh, UK. The procurement falls under the services category and aimed to ensure continuity of services provided by the incumbent supplier, Squiz UK.

This awarded contract for the Funnelback Search Engine presents business growth opportunities for companies offering SaaS products, web content crawlers, database hosting services, and search mechanism administration platforms. Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) specializing in digital solutions tailored for educational institutions could find this tender particularly suited for their expertise. As the University of Edinburgh values continuity and performance, businesses capable of providing reliable and customised solutions in the education sector stand to benefit from engaging in similar procurement processes.

## Notice

Funnelback is the current suppliers SaaS product which includes the following components: A website content crawler, configured to scan content across the University web estate; A database which hosts all crawled content in customised collections; An administration platform which allows selected University staff to configure and control aspects of the search mechanism, its crawling and hosting configuration, and provides detailed performance reports.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The current supplier is providing their Software as a Service (SaaS) product, "Funnelback", which includes the following components: - A website content crawler, configured to scan content across the University web estate; - A database which hosts all crawled content in customised collections; - An administration platform which allows selected University staff to configure and control aspects of the search mechanism, it's crawling and hosting configuration, and provides detailed performance reports; A mechanism which, returns the most relevant results for a specific or a set of search terms, consisting of an interface delivering these by Squiz, and a bespoke, in-house developed, front-end code presenting them to the audiences using the web search. These can either access it by University websites or directly at https://search.ed.ac.uk/. As this was an NCA there was no evaluation involved regarding quality however, the system does not allow for no quality % to be inserted.

### Procurement Information

By not concluding this NCA would result in Squiz switching off their services, which will have an immense detrimental effect to the Universities online experience since staff and students will not be able to search within the Universities web estate. Squiz is currently the University's incumbent supplier.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland |
| Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB497724 |
| Notice type | PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 1 Feb 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 15 Sep 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £177,282 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH |
| Additional buyers | THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH |
| Locality | EDINBURGH |
| Post town | Edinburgh |
| Postcode | EH1 1HT |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM1 East Central Scotland |
| ITL 3 | TLM13 City of Edinburgh |
| Local authority | City of Edinburgh |
| Electoral ward | City Centre |
| Westminster constituency | Edinburgh East and Musselburgh |
| Delivery location | TLM75 City of Edinburgh |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SQUIZ |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

### Codes

- 72414000 - Web search engine providers

## Release History

- 1 Feb 2024 at 00:00 - Award - PCS Notice - Website Contract Award Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB497724

## Documents

- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=FEB497724
  Funnelback Search Engine - Funnelback is the current suppliers SaaS product which includes the following components: A website content crawler, configured to scan content across the University web estate; A database which hosts all crawled content in customised collections; An administration platform which allows selected University staff to configure and control aspects of the search mechanism, its crawling and hosting configuration, and provides detailed performance reports.

## Notice URLs

- http://
- http://www.ed.ac.uk
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885
- https://search.ed.ac.uk/
- https://www.ed.ac.uk

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000756885.json.