A system and method are provided for improving a user search experience by identifying spam results in a result set produced in response to a query. The system may include a user interface spam feedback mechanism for allowing a user to indicate that a given result is spam. The system may additionally include an automated spam identification mechanism for implementing automated techniques on the given result to determine whether the given result is spam. The system may further include a merging component for merging the determinations of the user interface spam feedback mechanism and the automated spam identification mechanism for deriving an indicator of the likelihood that a given result is spam.