web search engines
.Definition
A web
search engine is a software system that is designed
to search for information on the World Wide Web.
The search results are generally presented in a line of results often
referred to as search engine results pages (SERPs). The information
may be a mix of webpages, images, and other types of files.
Ten Web Search Engines
Top choices
·
Google
search
·
Yahoo
search
·
Ask
search
Strongly Consider
·
All
the web search
·
AOL
search
·
Hot
bot search
Other Choices
·
AltaVistasearch
·
Gigablast
search
·
Live
search
·
Look
smart search
·
Google
searchwww.google.com
Google
search engine is a powerful tool. Without search engines like Google, it would
be practically impossible to find the information you need when you browse the
web. Like all search engines, Google uses a special algorithm to generate
search results. While Google shares general facts about its algorithm, the
specifics are a company secret. This helps Google remain competitive with other
search engines on the web and reduces the chance of someone finding out how to
abuse the system.
Google was
originally a Stanford
University
Launched
in 1994, Yahoo is the web's oldest "directory," a place where human
editors organize web sites into categories. However, in October 2002, Yahoo
made a giant shift to crawler based listings for its main results. These came
from Google until February 2004. Now, Yahoo uses its own search technology.
Learn more in this recent review from our Search Day newsletter, which also
provides some updated submission details.
·
Ask search www.ask.com
Ask Jeeves
initially gained fame in 1998 and 1999 as being the "natural
language" search engine that let you search by asking questions and
responded with what seemed to be the right answer to everything.
In
reality, technology wasn't what made Ask Jeeves perform so well. Behind the
scenes, the company at one point had about 100 editors who monitored search
logs. They then went out onto the web and located what seemed to be the best
sites to match the most popular queries.
·
All
the web search www.alltheweb.com
AllTheWeb.com
was previously owned by a company called FAST and used as a showcase for that
company's web search technology. That's why you sometimes may sometimes hear
AllTheWeb.com also referred to as FAST or FAST Search. However, the search
engine was purchased by search provider Overture (see below) in late April
2003, and then later become Yahoo's property when Yahoo bought Overture. It no
longer has a connection with FAST.
·
AOL
Search www.aol.com
http://aolsearch.aol.com (internal)
AOL Search
provides users with editorial listings that come Google's crawler based index.
Indeed, the same search on Google and AOL Search will come up with very similar
matches. So, why would you use AOL Search? Primarily because you are an AOL
user. The "internal" version of AOL Search provides links to content
only available within the AOL online service. In this way, you can search AOL
and the entire web at the same time. The "external" version lacks
these links. Why wouldn't you use AOL Search? If you like Google, many of
Google's features such as "cached" pages are not offered by AOL
Search.
·
HotBotwww.hotbot.com
HotBot
provides easy access to the web's three major crawler based search engines:
Yahoo, Google and Teoma. Unlike a meta search engine, it cannot blend the
results from all of these crawlers together. Nevertheless, it's a fast, easy
way to get different web search "opinions" in one place.
HotBot
debuted in May 1996, it gained a strong following among serious searchers for
the quality and comprehensiveness of its crawler based results, which were
provided by Inktomi, at the time. It also caught the attention of experienced
web users and techies, especially for the unusual colors and interface it
continues to sport today.
AltaVista
opened in December 1995 and for several years was the "Google" of its
day, in terms of providing relevant results and having a loyal group of users
that loved the service.
Today,
AltaVista is once again focused on search. Results come from Yahoo, and tabs
above the search box let you go beyond web search to find images, MP3/Audio,
Video, human category listings and news results. If you want a lighter feel
than Yahoo but to still have Yahoo's results, AltaVista is worth considering.
·
Gigablast
www.gigablast.com
Compared
to Google, Yahoo or even Teoma, Gigablast has a tiny index of the web. However,
the service is constantly gaining new and interesting features. Give it a
whirl, if you want to try something experimental yet dependable. Read more
about Gigablast in this recent interview from our SearchDay newsletter.
·
Live
search www.live.com
Live
Search (formerly Windows Live Search) is the name of Microsoft's web search
engine, successor to MSN Search, designed to compete with the industry leaders
Google and Yahoo. The search engine offers some innovative features, such as
the ability to view additional search results on the same web page (instead of
needing to click through to subsequent search result pages) and the ability to
adjust the amount of information displayed for each search result (i.e. just
the title, a short summary, or a longer summary). It also allows the user to
save searches and see them updated automatically on Live.com.
·
Look
smart search www.looksmart.com
Look Smart
is primarily a human compiled directory of web sites. It gathers its listings
in two ways. Commercial sites pay to be listed in its commercial categories,
making the service very much like an electronic "Yellow Pages."
However, volunteer editors at the Look Smart owned Zeal directory also catalog
sites into noncommercial categories for free. Though Zeal is a separate web
site, its listings are integrated into Look Smart's results.
Look Smart
launched independently in October 1996, was backed by Reader's Digest for about
a year, and then company executives bought back control of the service.
