Search Engines - Definitions

What is this VooDoo, anyways?

A search engine allows people to find web pages/sites that contain a given keyword phrase. When a user enters and makes a query the engine returns the pages/sites that it determines to best match the search criteria. Each search engine has its own method of indexing a page/site to determine which ones rank best.

Search engine types

Web page search engine
Indexes the content of web pages
Web site search directory
Indexes text descriptions for a site

Note that most public search engines, i.e. Yahoo, AltaVista, Lycos, actually use both a page search engine and a directory.

Search engine scope

External search engine
Used to search pages/sites across multiple domains, i.e. Yahoo, AltaVista
Internal search engine
Used to search pages within a web site.

Examples

The following is a list of popular search engines. Often these search engines are only portals to someone else's database. For example, Yahoo maintains its own directory for web site results yet uses Google for its web pages results. Yahoo used to use Inktomi for its web page results, which is used by Hotbot and others. Click here for a more exhaustive summary of top search engines.

AltaVista
Directory (by Looksmart) and search engine
Excite
Directory (by Looksmart) and search engine
Google
Search engine
MSN
Search engine
Hotbot
Directory (by Open Directory) and search engine (by Inktomi)
InfoSeek/Go
Search engine
Lycos
Directory (by Open Directory) and search engine (by Fast &amp Direct Hit)
Open Directory
Directory
Yahoo
Directory and search engine (by Inktomi)

The above is just a list of a few popular search engine, there are literally thousands of search engines and directories on the Internet.

Articles

So now you're ready to do some reading on search engine considerations. Great! Go to our library, lean back in your chair and relax...

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