**Freelancer Search

For freelancers concerned they can’t find themselves in search or concerned about their position in search or clients unable to find a specific freelancer in search.

There are a few reasons why a freelancer cannot be found from search results; may be due to:

• Their profile is set to private
• They can update by following steps here: Set Your Profile Visibility
• Or, it may be due to: Rewarding Consistent Users (see “Profile Changes to Private” dropdown)
• If “Blacklist”, “Greylist” or “Whitelist” is defined as “true” under Contractor tab

Hiding Freelancers Last Name Pre-Interview does not make the user unsearchable by their last name. This simply hides the full last name on the Upwork site pre-interview.

If user is logged out while searching aka “Whitelist”: See “Logged Out Searching” dropdown

Internal info and not to be discussed with users.

This is referred to as “logged out site” and is when a CL or FL can search on the site (or a search engine i.e. Google) to find FLs without being logged in or having an account.

The FLs that populate in these “logged out site” searches are considered whitelisted and not all FLs will populate in these searches. With that, even if someone is on the whitelist, they still may not appear in search if other aspects of their profile don't fit our current algorithm(s) on the visitor site.

If “Whitelist” is defined as “true” under Contractor tab, then they may appear in “logged out site” searches.


A FL may also be automatically “hidden” if they use any “keywords” to improve their SEO presence (when someone may search for a freelancer on Google, for example). To see if a user’s profile is “hidden”, look for “Profile restricted” next to Profile Visibility under the Contractor tab in OBO:

Response we can inform users in these situations:

The purpose of our logged-out site is to give prospective clients and freelancers a feel for what Upwork has to offer so that they can decide whether to join our platform; it is not intended to reflect all the jobs and all the profiles available on Upwork. That's the role of the logged-in site, which is only visible to our registered users. To optimize the experience of prospective clients and freelancers on our logged-out site, we are sometimes selective about which jobs and profiles are visible.

We apologize if you are disappointed not to see your profile or job on the logged-out site. However, you can rest easy knowing that the vast majority of job invitations and job applications stem from visibility on the logged-in user site, not on the logged-out site. Therefore, your success on Upwork shouldn't be impacted by your visibility on our logged-out site.

Rewarding Consistent Earners automatically updates public profiles to private and be hidden from search results in these cases:

- New freelancers who haven't earned money after submitting their 1st proposal after 90 days as well as those that don't submit a proposal within 90 days

- Experienced freelancers ("experienced" here meaning have earned) who haven't earned (based on invoice date) after 2 years

Freelancers can switch their profile back to public one of the following ways:

• by earning through Upwork
• calling customer support (see CS Process below for instruction)
• signing up for the Freelancer Plus membership to keep their profile public when they aren’t regularly earning through Upwork

Helpful KB Link

• Profile Changed to Private (EXTERNAL)

CS Process Map

FAQs

How does this affect me if I’m part of an agency?

• The rules are the same for all freelancers, regardless of agency status
• Based on your contracts’ earnings on behalf of your agency (as well as any individual contracts, if you’re non-exclusive)
• Exclusive Agency FLs don’t have the ability to get a FL Plus membership, but can switch back to public by earning again or using the link on Find Work to contact us
• An agency manager or agency owner can see profile privacy status for everyone on their Roster. An agency owner can also request that we reset a freelancer's profile to public, as long as that freelancer is an exclusive member of their agency. Although we're not able to update the profile for any non-exclusive freelancers for you, if you direct them to customer support, we'll be happy to assist them directly.

Because of this change you'll be showing a lot of inactive freelancers in search, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

Thanks for your question. We understand this is a significant change. However, we’ve learned that many high-quality freelancers work in niche fields where they might not be active on Upwork yet still in demand by clients seeking those rarer skills. We also were concerned that new freelancers were being removed from search results before they had a chance to establish themselves on Upwork. By re-adding these groups of freelancers in search results regardless of recent earnings, we hope to improve invite acceptance rates and help clients find the right freelancer for their project.

Isn't the jump from 30 days to two years kind of drastic?

Thanks for your question. We understand it is a big change. However, we’ve learned that many high-quality freelancers work in niche fields where they might not be as active on Upwork yet still in demand by clients seeking those unique skills. By re-adding these freelancers in search results, we hope to improve invite acceptance rates and help clients find the right freelancer for their project.

Allowing freelancers to remain in search results when they haven’t earned in two years seems too long. Wouldn't setting freelancer profiles to private after three or four months without earnings be better?

Thanks for reaching out and for sharing your feedback. At this time, based on our data, we think this change is best. We’ve learned that many high-quality freelancers work in niche fields where they might not be active on Upwork yet still in demand by clients seeking those rarer skills. And we learned that the old way put new freelancers trying to get started on Upwork at a disadvantage. That said, we are always studying what works best for our freelancers and clients and will continue to monitor the guidelines for when we set a freelancer profile to private and remove it from appearing in search results.

This is a test to understand how a “sponsored” freelancer profile placement in search might impact invite and hiring rates. If it tests well, we may consider offering this as an option for purchase to freelancers, similar to what was once on Elance.

The test applies to freelancer search and Proposal Manager.

FAQs

For Freelancers:

What is this test?

Thanks for your question. We are testing out featuring freelancers at the top of search results, based on the client’s search terms. When a client searches for a freelancer, we will highlight relevant Freelancer Plus freelancers at the top of the page and tag them as “Sponsored.” Our goal is to see how this change affects proposal invites and hiring. If the test helps freelancers and clients more easily connect, we may give freelancers the opportunity to pay to have their profile “Sponsored” in search results to better market their freelance businesses.

How are you deciding who is shown in Sponsored?

Thanks for your question. For this test, only freelancers who have the Freelancer Plus plan are eligible. When a client searches for a freelancer we will take the first three freelancers with a Freelancer Plus membership who appear in search results and highlight them as “Sponsored.” They will continue to appear in the regular list of search results, too, as will freelancers who don’t subscribe to Freelancer Plus.

Are agencies eligible?

Thanks for your question. Agencies are not eligible for this test.

Why is this only available to FL Plus members and not Top Rated?

Thanks for reaching out. We picked Freelancer Plus members for this test because we wanted to provide another perk for those who pay for a membership plan. However, if this test helps freelancers and clients more easily connect, we plan to give all freelancers the option to pay to have their profile highlighted as “Sponsored” in search results.

This is just another way to charge us!

Thanks for reaching out. We are just testing this option out and not charging freelancers to be “Sponsored” during the test. If testing is successful, we plan to give freelancers the option to pay to have their profile “Sponsored” when a client searches for a freelancer with their skills. If you moved from Elance to Upwork, you may recall this option was available on Elance.

How can I be a part of this test?

Thanks for your question. To be eligible to have your profile shown as “Sponsored” in search results during this test you need to have a Freelancer Plus membership.

This is unfair! Clients won’t see my profile unless it’s sponsored!.

Thanks for your question. Clients will still see the same results they do today when they search for freelancers. “Sponsored” profiles will just be highlighted at the top of the search result pages.

For Clients:

I see a Sponsored badge in my search results. What does this mean?

Thanks for your question. We are currently testing out featuring relevant freelancers in search results by adding a “Sponsored” badge. During this test, these freelancers are not charged for this placement. However, if we find that testing helps freelancers and clients more easily connect, we will look at giving freelancers the option to pay to have their profile “Sponsored” to better market their freelance businesses.

Q: In the Proposal Manager, what do the percentages next to a freelancer's "relevant skills" mean?

A: The percentage represents the ranking of that freelancer among all Upwork freelancers who list that as a skill. It is based on the freelancer's ability to win work and perform on jobs that include that particular skill. The lower the number, the higher the freelancer's ranking.

Help Center article on Expert Vetted

Expert-Vetted highlights talent that has gone through a thorough pre-screening process by experts in their field. These elite freelancers and agencies have been evaluated by our technical Talent Managers for their expertise and excellent soft skills. They represent the top 1% of talent on Upwork.

To enhance the visibility and access of our highest quality talent to Enterprise clients, we’re rolling out the Expert Vetted Talent search filter.

What is the benefit to the client?

• Enables talent profiles with the Expert Vetted Talent (EVT) badge to be surfaced in talent search filters 
• Provide clients with easier to access to top talent

What known clients does this impact?

All Enterprise hiring managers will have the ability to filter by Expert Vetted Talent in their talent search without having to reach out to Talent Services.

When will it be available?

September 15 (tentative date)

What if I have questions?