Popular Search EnginesOn the Internet, a search engine is a coordinated set of programs that includes:
Yahoo - 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 using Google's crawler-based listings for its main results. If Yahoo is now powered by Google, then why bother using it? For one thing, you might find that the way Yahoo "enhances" Google's listings with information from its own directory may make search results more readable. MSN - Microsoft is known for constantly reworking its software products until they get them right, and MSN Search is a shining example of the company putting that same effort into an online product. In particular, the company has its own team of editors that monitors the most popular searches being performed and then hand-picks sites that are believed to be the most relevant. After performing a search, "Popular Topics" shown below the search box on the results page are also suggestions built largely by editors to guide you into making a more refined encyclopedia content from Microsoft Encarta or news headlines, at the top of the page. Ask (Ask Jeeves) - Ask 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 instead depends on crawler-based technology to provide results to its users. Alta Vista - AltaVista is the oldest crawler-based search engine on the web. It 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. Sadly, an attempt to turn AltaVista into a portal site in 1998 saw the company lose track of the importance of search. Over time, relevancy dropped, as did the freshness of AltaVista's listings and the crawler's coverage of the web. Today, AltaVista is once again focused on search. Improvements have been made, but crawlers such as Google and AllTheWeb provide more comprehensive results. Because of this, AltaVista is probably a third-choice crawler, one to try if you haven't found what you are looking for at one of its competitors. AltaVista does remain strong in terms of some of the specialty searching it offers. It provides a good image search service, and you can look for video and audio clips, as well. It also has an outstanding news search service. Lycos - This site is more a portal than search engine. It provides directories of web sites by topics. It provides news and paid advertisements. DogPile - Dogpile is primarily known as one of the most popular meta search services, querying 13 major engines including Google, FAST, Ask Jeeves and Inktomi. With the Dogpile toolbar, you can now gain access to search results while viewing any page on the web. WiseNut - Like Teoma, WiseNut is a crawler-based search engine that attracted attention when it appeared on the scene in 2001. Like Teoma, WiseNut features good relevancy. Unlike Teoma, WiseNut has a large database, making it nearly as comprehensive as Google, AllTheWeb and Inktomi. However, the WiseNut database has consistently been months out of date. The search engine is supposed to be regularly updated sometime in 2003, when WiseNut's owner LookSmart is promising to revamp the engine. LookSmart bought WiseNut in April 2002. If the revamp happens, then WiseNut may deliver on its initial promise. Picsearch - Searches for images on the web. Search Engine Watch's Web Searching Tips - This site provides tips on using search engines better, along with some fun facts such as what people search for on search engines. Search Engine Glossary - Definition of terms relating to search engines, such as phrase search, Boolean operators, stop words and more. Web Search Engine FAQs - Nice list of frequently ask question about using search engines. Evaluating Internet Research Sources - Welcome to the Internet. As I hope my analogy makes clear, there is an extremely wide variety of material on the Internet, ranging in its accuracy, reliability, and value. Unlike most traditional information media (books, magazines, organizational documents), no one has to approve the content before it is made public. It's your job as a searcher, then, to evaluate what you locate, in order to determine whether it suits your needs...by Robert Harris Conducting Research on the Internet - How to find information on the Internet. |
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