Search engine

A search engine allows people to find web pages and sites that contfasthe engine returns the pages and sites that it determines to best match the search criteria. Each search engine has its own method of indexing a page to determine which ones rank best, note that most public search engines (i.e., [[Yahoo!]], [[AltaVista]], and [[Lycos]]) actually use both a page search engine and a directory search engine. Types: Search engine- Indexes the content of web pages automatically using existing hyperlinks and other metadata. Search directory - Indexes text descriptions for a site search engine scope. External search engine - Used to search pages and sites across multiple domains (i.e., Yahoo!, AltaVista). Internal search engine - Used to search pages within a web site. Examples: The following is a list of popular search engines; often these search engines are only portals to someone else's database. For example Yahoo! maintains its own directory for web site results, yet uses Google for its web pages results. Yahoo! used to use [[Inktomi]] for its web page results, which is used by [[HotBot]] and others. The list is just a list of a few popular search engines; there are literally thousands of search engines and directories on the internet. Google - search engine, [[MSN]] - search engine and directory, AltaVista - directory by [[LookSmart]] and search engine, Yahoo! - directory and search engine by Google, [[Ask]] - search engine, HotBot - directory by open directory and search engine by Inktomi Infoseek, [[Go]] - search engine Lycos - directory by [[Open Directory]] and search engine by [[Fast & Direct Hit]], Open Directory - directory