Search Engine

A search engine is simply a software program that net surfers use for searching on the Internet. The primary function of a search engine is to lead the Internet users to the information they are searching for. Internet users can easily access any type of information listed on the World Wide Web with the assistance of search engines.

With the help of a computer with Internet access, you can find information on the search engines by using search terms based on your search criteria. You can easily find or reach the information, without the necessity of memorizing the web addresses or URLs of different websites.

Search engines may be classified into those that are human powered and those that are crawler based or automatic. Another type of search engine is also available, that is the hybrid search engine. The human powered search engines are known as directories. The most popular automatic search engines are Google, Teoma, WiseNut, AlltheWeb (FAST), and AltaVista. These search engines are recognized as genuine automatic search engines.

The main function of automatic search engines is to list high quality web pages on the basis of search terms. Every search engine has three main parts. They are spider, index and a search software or database. A search engine functions using these components. The spider, also called a crawler or robot, visits each web page and examines the contents and Meta tags provided on that site. Then, it creates an index based on the search words and then processes the queries using search software and provide meaningful results that match the user's search criteria.

Though all search engines use the same basic components, their search results vary. Each search engine follows its own rules to rank websites. Their ranking algorithms also vary from one to another. The most important elements they consider for ranking are page titles and body copy.

Thus, search engines are highly relevant and significant in this Internet dominated world. In short, a search engine enables the users to search for information on the WWW and USENET newsgroups.