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Internet Search Engines: Guide to the Net's Best
Reminder: There's more to search than Google! Metasearchers are useful when you're in a hurry, and web directories are helpful for locating quality sites by topic.
Internet search engines are giant databases of words, compiled and maintained around the clock by small computer programs called spiders, bots, or robots. These programs seek out and randomly crawl web pages, indexing their contents as they go. The information overload problem so typical of search engine use has to do with how these tools work. Net search engines are entirely automated, with no human intervention, which means that among the gigabytes of data they gather may be useful bits of information. The challenge is finding them! There are thousands of search engines on the Net. Some of the best known and most popular are listed below. For how to use these resources, see our constructing a query page or sign up for our popular Internet research course. For practice searching the Net with Google or other favourites, check out our fun Internet Hunts.
Regular Search Engines
Google Accoona GigaBlast All The Web Wisenut Teoma (good for jumplists) Altavista MSN AOL With1Click Lycos Aesop MacInstein (for Mac users) MasterSite WalHalloPaid Listings
Search engines use a variety of criteria to order results, including popularity and relevance. But the fact that a site is at the top of the results does not mean it's the best or most relevant resource. Some engines accept payment for top position, utilizing a keyword bidding system and collecting a fee from advertisers when you click through to their sites. The more advertisers pay, the higher they rise in the results. This obviously tends to skew results in favor of sites with the biggest budgets. Here are some sites that utilize this approach, some of which (like Overture) also feed results to regular search engines:
Overture Kanoodle