Google has more complex algorithm than the other two big search engines and Google is better in providing fresh and quality information . This is due to continuous improvement of its algorithms.

Mike

i would much rather be on the first page of google and not on yahoo/msn. google is such a dominant search engine (% wise of usage), even if you were on the first page of yahoo/msn for the same keyword phrase as google, that traffic would be pale in comparison for the traffic coming from google.

to answer your question, each search engine has their own algorithm to calculate results/rankings which is different from the other search engines.

basically, it would be like asking 3 different people what their favorite flavor of ice cream is....chances are that each person would tell you something different based on their preference of what is important in determining taste.:p

I think the only reason is that they all have different company owners/founders

The factors contributing towards making the site to come up in SERPs varies among search engines and the weightage given to each factor.

But I assume onpage factors are generally similar across all engines but off-site factors may vary.

Google is by far easier to rank for than yahoo and msn. That wasn't always the case though.

Google rank their pages differently essentially because they are a different company to the other two so therefore have their own technologies and ways of doing things.

Audi and Ford both make cars, but I doesn't mean they are the same does it.

To be honest, I focus on google and trust that my efforts, to some extent will be rewarded by the other two.

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Google emphasizes link authority, as well an anchor text heavily.

Perhaps the other engines are still a little more sensitive to on-page factors.

Good news is that the hard part, getting links, seems to have been accomplished for you. You can more easily change whats on your site to boost the other engine's rankings.