INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES

Internet Search Engines

INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES

Internet Search Engines

Abstract

A search engine is a site on the World Wide Web that provides users with access to an index of Web pages and a program for matching page content to key words supplied by the user. Unlike a library, where books are carefully cataloged and arranged on the shelves systematically, Web pages are scattered, literally, worldwide. Web addresses, also known as URLs (Universal Resource Locators), unlike book titles and indices, provide few clues about page content. With millions and millions of pages on every imaginable topic now available on the Web, a reliable search engine is an essential tool for locating information. This research paper explores and discusses various search engines currently being utilised by internet users.

Internet Search Engines

Introduction

The Internet is essentially a collection of interconnected computer networks, which themselves are made up of any number of individual computer systems. Information on these systems is made available to Internet users by placing it on a server, of which there are several types, including Web, news, and file transfer protocol (FTP) servers (Birnbaum, 2006). As of 2002, there were approximately 200,000,000 servers (or hosts) accessible through the Internet. In order to find material within this overwhelming collection, a wide range of search engines have been developed (Birnbaum, 2006). A search engine takes the keywords or a sentence entered and returns a list of Web pages that contain the requested words. Some search engines, such as Google (www.google.com) and AltaVista (www.altavista.com) are primarily that; they incorporate a very simple user interface and attempt to return matches that are best using some type of best-fit algorithm. Other engines, such as the one associated with Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) are more comprehensive, combining an attempt to organize Web sites according to categories, as well as keyword and category searching. Other well-known search engines include Lycos (www.lycos.com) and AskJeeves (www.askjeeves.com) (Meyer, 2002). Like Yahoo!, Lycos aims to be more than a search engine, providing a portal service, where users can not only search the Web but also gain access to news and a range of online services. Recent enhancements in search engine technology include options to search for graphical materials such as pictures, as well as for text in word processing documents embedded within Web sites.

Using Internet search engines is as much an art as a science, because for many searches, hundreds and even thousands of potential matches may be returned. In general, the more specific the phrase or keywords used, the better, but the state of search engine technology is such that users often have to wade through many matches to find exactly what they need. In fact, an entire Internet site, www.searchenginewatch.com, is dedicated to helping researchers get the most out of the many different search engines.

Search engines vary in their goals, in the ways that they collect information about Web sites, and in the ways that users may search for ...