What are the Top Internet Search Engines?
If you are wondering why each of these search engines is so popular and unique, here is some info about each of them.
Google.com
Google Search is owned by Google, Inc., it is by far considered to be the most popular search engine on the web and since its inception in 1998, it has revolutionized the web internet search industry. You can visit Google Search at the following link: http://www.google.com, you will notice that compared to other search engines the homepage or landing page is uncluttered and quite empty except for the logo, search bar and a few links to other functions. This uncluttered style originally differentiated itself from other search engines (web portals) such as Yahoo! that in some cases overloaded viewers with links and advertisements. It should be noted that there are no advertisements on the homepage of Google.
Searching for information on Google is quick, easy and extremely effective. Google has invested enormous sums of money (several billion dollars) into their search engine making it disputably the best search engine on the web. Google Search handles hundreds of millions of queries per day and not only indexes HTML web pages (which is usually the standard web page format), but other file formats such as PDF, Word documents, images, videos, etc. Google also allows you to search images, video and retail price data.
Google uses an algorithm called Pagerank, which is what makes this search engine unique (however, many other search engines have since copied this search strategy). The method of Pagerank is quite complicated and takes into account the data found on a page, the pages that are associated to it (links) and other important variables. However, the end result is quite on the mark and when a person searches for a term using Google, in the vast majority of cases information returned by Google is quite relevant.
Another important aspect regarding Google Search is that when search results are returned to a user, they are organized and differentiate between both advertisements or paid results and unpaid- non commercial results. One reason Google became quite popular was that other search engines would not distinguish paid results from non paid results. This meant the user wasn't receiving the most relevant results for their query, but actual advertisements that paid for a high ranking.
Yahoo!
Yahoo is the second most popular search engine on the internet. It was one of the first search engines on the web, developed in 1994. Yahoo!, however is much more than just a search engine- considering itself a web portal. A web portal is usually defined as a site that offers many services, all emanating from once source. Not only does Yahoo! offer a very competent search tool, but offers email, video, news, instant messaging, etc. You can visit Yahoo! at the following site: http://www.yahoo.com
Yahoo's search engine is extremely easy to use and quite effective. Hundreds of millions of queries are made each day. However, millions of web users visit Yahoo! not necessarily for the search engine they offer, but for the other services such as email and other portal functionality.
MSN
MSN stands for Microsoft Network. MSN originally started to counter AOL's ISP network and search engine. MSN is the third most popular search engine, but ranks far behind in unique visitors from both Google and Yahoo!. It should be noted that MSN is not only a search tool, but an ISP service. While anyone can use MSN's search tool, most people do so because they gain access to the internet via the MSN ISP service. MSN can be thought of as an internet community. Usually, a family buys dial up access to the internet via the Microsoft Network. The software to gain access to the internet is designed as a community and many users stay within the community borders to search use email, etc.
MSN recently announced their new search tool designed to compete with Google. It is called Live and is available at http://www.live.com. This tool is quite impressive, however over the last year it has been in service, Live has been unable to make a big impact on web surfers. The homepage of Live is quite similar to Google. It is uncluttered and has a simple interface. Searching with Live is quick and easy. Once a query is made, results are displayed. While Live does serve up advertised listings for your query, these results are at the top and differentiated by being highlighted.
AOL
AOL originally stood for America Online. AOL is considered to be an online service provider. This means that not only does AOL offer content, but also ISP services. Similar to MSN, AOL was considered the first ISP with national appeal and built an internet community with over 20 million households.
It should be noted that AOL was never popular due to its search, in fact in many cases, it would outsource its search engine to other large companies. While AOL is a popular search engine, it is far less used than Google and Yahoo!. The vast majority of users that use AOL search are those that pay for its ISP or broadband service. AOL offers users original content and other key services such as email and instant messaging. AOL's search engine can be found at http://www.aol.com. AOL is now considered to be a portal with a search tool found at the top of the page. Results of a search query are very similar to MSN. Results are returned in two categories. At the top of the page are paid advertisements that are relevant to your search query. These advertisements are highlighted; beneath these ads are non commercial results. It should be noted that the general public is free to use the AOL portal including its search and access to its original content.
Ask.com
Ask.com was originally called Ask Jeeves. Jeeves was a character based on an English Butler. While other search engines asked you to input keywords in order to conduct a search, Ask Jeeves requested that you write a question in regular form (e.g. Who was the first president?). While this may seem like a practical way to search, many people that searched for more complex information found the results off base and irrelevant. As Google and other search engines developed highly competent algorithms, AskJeeves.com failed to develop as quickly and lost much of its user base. The character of Ask Jeeves was dropped in February 2006 and now the site is known as simply Ask.com.
Ask.com now still allows users to enter a question as a query, but mainly focuses on keyword queries. While Ask.com does not have as many web pages indexed, it is still a competent search tool. You can visit Ask.com at the following link: http://www.ask.com
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