Search engines are the gateways to the Internet and allow users to search for anything that the Internet has to offer. Search engines create digital robots called Spiders that go out and index web pages all over the Internet. Index simply means store the location of and sometimes the actual page itself. Once pages are indexed (or known) by the Search Engine, users are able to search for information using those pages. Search engines allow users to type in what they are looking for (search query) and the search engine then scours the billions of indexed pages on the web returning those pages that match the users search query.
Search engines have evolved significantly over the past several years from really simply results that simply match keywords from the users query with keywords on the pages to more sophisticated algorithms that match a users query with pages that are ranked, scored, and utilize more than just keywords used in a query. Some of the more recent search engines are incorporating human-edited search results which allow users themselves to affect the results generated by search engines based on the accuracy of search results.
Search engines offer complimentary search related services including directories, and anything else that helps consumers find what they need on the Internet.
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What
to look for when choosing Search Engine Websites
Relevant / Accurate Results
Look for search engines that provide relevant / accurate results for your searches. This is the most important feature for all search engines as finding what you are looking for quickly is what they are supposed to do. But sometimes, certain search queries result is a long list of irrelevant search results.
Special Functionality Syntax
Look for services that offer special search syntax for performing cool functions such as currency conversion, calculator functions, weather, etc. A lot of times these options are not well promoted within search engines but they are available and they make your life a lot easier.
Relevant Results
Relevant results are the most important things to look for when evaluating search engines. If you never get the results you want when using a search engine, you never go back. Look for relevancy with accuracy when evaluating search engines.
Clear distinction between paid and natural search results
The better search engines clearly separate the paid search results (those advertisements paid for by 3rd parties and not always relevant to your search) and the natural search results which are those that are not paid for and utilize the search technology of the search engine to provide relevant and accurate results. Look for search engines that clearly make the distinction between the two otherwise you will spend a lot of time clicking paid advertisements instead of relevant results.
Different types of media/databases to search
Search engines often gain access to directories of databases of unique information and allow users to search these directories for information. Look for search engines that allow access to these unique information pools such as the US patent office applications, database of digitized book pages, etc.
Offers search that uses proprietary algorithms to rank pages based on relevance and other factors that determine where pages show in search results
People Powered Search
Offers search that uses human intervention in determining which pages are relevant the corresponding rank of pages for all searches.
Meta Search
Offers search that uses meta keywords found in the HTML code of web pages to rank pages for relevance.
Show Sponsored Ads
Provides sponsored ads on search results pages (sponsored ads are paid placements given to third parties).
Web Search Option
Searches the collection of web pages gathered by the search engine
News Search Option
Searches the collection of news related web pages crawled by the search engine
Video Search Option
Offers the option to search for video content within the collection of video content crawled by the search engine.
Image Search Option
Offers the option to search for images within the collection of image content crawled by the search engine.
Books Search Option
Offers the option to search for text in books within the collection of book content scanned by the search engine.
US Patent Database Search Option
Offers the option to search for content within the collection of patents controlled by the US Patent Office.
Blog Search
Offers the option to search for content within the collection of blogs crawled by the search engine.
Groups Search
Offers the option to search for content within the collection of Groups discussions / pages crawled by the search engine.
Mobile Search Capability
Offers a search engine accessible from the user's cell phone.
Toolbar
Offers users a downloadable toolbar that allows the user to search for web pages using the toolbar and to perform other functionality such as bookmark webpages, auto fill form information, etc..
"Did you mean...?" Suggestions
Offers additional search options if the search engine "thinks" the user has misspelled a word and/or phrase.
Search Recommendations
Offers additional search terms / phrases that are related to the search terms / phrases input by the user. These recommendations can be based on relevance or what other users searched for that were related to the user's query.
Random Search Feature
Takes users to a random web page from the many results listed for a specific keyword or phrase.
Create Your Own Search Engine
Allows users to utilize the search engines functionality for their personal and/or business websites.
Search Box Suggestions
Offers users viewable search suggestions from within the search box for the words typed.
Maps
Offers users maps and/or directions services.
Question/Answer Search Option
Offers users the ability to search for answers to their questions through user generated Q & A content.
Creative Commons Search Option
Offers the option to search for content within the Creative Commons library of content.
Directory Search
Offers the option to search for content within a proprietary or third-party directory.
Job Search
Offers the option to search for jobs within a job-related database.
Local Search
Offers the option to search for listings within a specified location / zip code.
Product/Shopping Search Option
Offers the option to search for products within the search engine's product database or a third party product database.
People Search
Offers the option to search for people through a database of listed persons.
Travel Search
Offers the option to search through travel related information for booking airline tickets, car rentals, etc..
Screenshot Preview in Results Pages
Shows users a screenshot of each webpage listed in the search results (gives the user a sneak preview of the page before they click on the search result).
Play Videos on Results Pages
Plays videos listed in search results in the results pages without having to go to another page to view the video.
Desktop Search Software
Offers users downloadable software for their desktops that allow them to search for any document or file on their computers without needing to connect to the Internet.
Site Submission Service
Offers website owners the ability to submit their site to the search for inclusion within search results by users.
Directory
Offers users a directory of content if they don't want to search using keywords / phrases.
Search Relevance Score
A score that provides a quantitative measure of how relevant a search engine's results are for users.
Music Search
Offers the option to search for music across various networks and services.
