By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-07-15 14:56:58 | Word Count: 664
We all have our favorite search engines. From Google and Bing to lesser-known search engines, these websites help us sort through the billions of web pages available on the Internet. Instead of spending hours trying to find the information we want, search engines give us accurate results in under a second. Many people assume that there are only a few search engines. The reality is there is many search engines. Some of these are generalized while others are aimed at a more specific demographic. Still, the list of search engine websites worldwide is growing.
All search engines work in nearly the same way. Each of the search engines uses a slightly different set of criteria and the formulas can vary, but the end result is the same – a list of websites related to the search word or phrase. It is because of the differences in these formulas that end users get different search engine results from each of the search engines.
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Most of us are interested in generalized search engines. Their spiders crawl just about every website available. Google still reigns supreme in the world of generalized search engine, owing in large part to their massive index of over one billion websites. Other top general search engines include newcomer Bing, which is an updated offering of the old MSN search engine. Yahoo and Ask round out the list of popular generalized search engines.
There are also search engines designed to crawl more specific websites. Consumers turn to these search engines when they are looking for more specific information. These search engines can be divided into several broader categories.
1. Content based: These search engines are specific in nature. For example, IFACnet is a popular search engine for accountants, Business.com focuses on business matters, CareerBuilder.com is used primarily as an employment resource and Entrez.com is a medical search engine.
2. Information type: These search engines allow users to search for specific information. Bloglines.com is a popular search engine for bloggers while Omgili.com is useful for those looking to search forums.
3. Model: these search engines are based on the model or type of information you are looking for. Grub.com is a popular way to search for open source.
The list of search engine websites worldwide will continue to grow and develop. One of the latest trends in searching is visual searching. Several sites, like Empora.com, are using pictures to communicate results. In the case of Empora, searchers can easily search for clothing by brand, type, size or other criteria. Their results will be represented by thumbnails.
Search engines tend to develop a ‘following.’ Each of the popular engines has dedicated users that swear their search engine is the best. Still, overall Google, Bing and Yahoo are leading the way. Whether you stick to a favorite site or like to use several different search engines to find the information you need, there is no doubt that without search engines the World Wide Web would simply not work!
