If you’ve never heard of searchmash.com, that’s okay with Google. Searchmash was created by Google to test new search features apart from the Google brand.
According to SEO Chat, Google is hiding under the secret identity because it’s studies show that consumers tend to rate Google interfaces in light of the company’s branding. By separating the interface and innovations from the brand, the company gets a more objective view of consumer opinion.
Google says that it’s own studies have show that people rate Google’s search results higher even when they are identical to another search engine.
