Clusty Search Engine: A Closer Look

This is an example of a metasearcher, in case you are wondering which one is a good one!

Clusty is a metasearcher and it gives you results from numerous sources with just one query. This is a great feature! 

Clusty started of as a demo search box on Vivisimo's corporate Web site but it became so popular that by 2004 it superceded the original and very popular Vivisimo search engine. 

Clusty incorporates the concept of "clustering" that Vivisimo used. Basically, what this means is that it gives you search results by topic and it focuses on specific categories or related fields of information This helps avoid the overload problem AND THE HASSLE of going through too many results. It also offers users dedicated search tabs for News, Images, Shopping, Wikipedia, Blogs, and Jobs. 

There is a link to an Advanced searching page, where you can check boxes that allow you to include results from Web sites not offered by other metasearchers, such as major news media sources and government and business sites.

What does all this mean? That it rocks!

SEARCHES IN:

• Ask     (Search Engine)
• GigaBlast     (Search Engine)
• LookSmart     (Directory)
• MSN     (Search Engine)
• Open Directory     (Directory)
• Wisenut     (Search Engine)

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Main Page

• Supports those features already supported by the engines used in the search
• Also supports use of (-) for negation and quotes ("") for phrases
• Offers option to open links in "full window," "frame," or "new window"

Advanced Page

• Provides option to set results list at 100, 200 or 500 at a time
• Provides option to set "time out" time
• Allows searches by host, language, and file type
• Allows searches to turn off/on filtering feature for offensive content

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES:

• Provides both results lists and "clustered results" by subject
• Prefaces results list with news and sponsored results
• Culls results from a combination of search engines and subject directories
• Translates search requests into each participating engine's syntax

Dogpile Metasearch Engine: A Closer Look

As you can see, this only gets better and better! Again, this is a run through of the resources out there and it gives you a breakdown of what you can expect out of each of these search engines. Found your favorite one yet? Let's keep looking! If you haven't found one yet, this one right here will probably be a contender because it is one of the most popular and effective ones. Let's see what you think!

Dogpile was launched in 1996 and it is currently operated by InfoSpace, which recently revamped its interface and gave it an entire new look and features. That's always a great!

Dogpile uses innovative metasearch technology and searches the Internet's top search engines. With a single click, it claims to fetch, the best results from its combined pool of search engine sources. It displays result links on the right-hand side of the results page for clustering and refining searches even further.  This allows the searcher to go narrower subtopics without having to use advanced search tools.

SEARCHES IN:

• Google    (search engine)
• Yahoo! Search    (directory / search engine)
• Ask.com    (search engine)
• MSN Search    (search engine)
• MIVA     (e-commerce directory)
• LookSmart     (directory)

DEFAULTS TO:
AND

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Basic Search Page

• Supports only those features already supported by the engines used in the search
• Displays separate search links for "Images," "Audio," "Video," "News," "White Pages," and "Yellow Pages"

Advanced Search Page

• Supports Boolean-type searches for "all of these words," "the exact phrase," any of these words," or "none of these words" 
• Supports searching by language
• Supports searching by date, to find sites updated after a certain date, before a certain date, and between two dates
• Supports searching by domain, to include or exclude results from different domains, e.g., "com" or "edu"
• Provides adult filter, to include or exclude explicit content from searches

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES:

• Labels individual sponsored results, generally listing them first -- so, be sure to SCROLL DOWN!
• Displays a search refining box on right-hand side of results page ("Are you looking for?") to help cluster and refine searches even further. Another box shows recently completed searches.

Gigablast Metasearch Engine: A Closer Look

As you can see, you have been introduced to many different search engines, and guess what? We are not done yet! Keep in mind that although overwhelming, all this information is useful because you will definitely learn to search the web more effectively. We promise! Here's another search engine with fantastic features. 

GigaBlast is a newer search engine that originated in 2002. It does have a relatively small database, but it does have pretty neat features.

One of its features is "Giga-Bits," which displays "related concept listings" at the top of the results page. It also gives additional links to reference pages (for research purposes) and related pages that help you narrow and customize your subject search.

Cool, huh? But that is NOT all! It also provides separate search links for the Web and its subject directory.  GigaBlast also includes PDF, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, PostScript, and Excel files.  And on top of everything, it is mega easy to use!

SEARCHES IN:
Own database 

DEFAULTS TO:
AND, primarily
OR, at the end of results list

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Basic Search Page

• Supports (+) and (-) signs
• Supports double quotes (" ")

Advanced Search Page

• Supports Boolean-type searches for "all of these words," "this exact phrase," "any of these words," and "none of these words"
• Allows for two phrase searches at the same time with two "this exact phrase" boxes
• Restricts search to specific site, URL, or pages that link to a URL
• Allows site clustering 
• Allows up to 5 summary excerpts 
• Provides for viewing 10 to 100 results per page

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES:

• Features "Giga-Bits," i.e., related concept listings, Reference Pages, and Related Pages in shaded areas preceding search results
• Provides links to other search engines (Google, Yahoo, DMOZ, Ask, & MSN) at bottom of search page, with invitation to try your search there as well
• Maintains stop word list; will not search for stop words unless typed as part of a phrase within quotation marks or if preceded by a (+) plus sign
• Offers short answers to simple sentence queries, but this feature doesn't work very well and can be a waste of time.

Google Search Engine: A Closer Look

Ahhhh…when all else fails GOOGLE IT! Right? Do you feel closer to your comfort zone now? We think that you do! If when the concept of the Internet comes to your mind, the first thing that you immediately associate it with is GOOGLE, then you are not as “Internet illiterate” as you may have thought to be.  

Google was created in the winter of 1998 by graduate students at Stanford University. Wow!   That is definitely too many years ago, but that does not mean that it is outdated, quite on the contrary, it is considered to be the largest of all the search engines, indexing over 4 billion pages on the Web. Yes! You heard right! It is indexing over 4 billion pages on the Web. Amazing, huh?

One of its primary goals has been to present a clean, attractive interface. This is a straightforward, easy-to-use engine that is noted for its highly relevant results. It returns pages based on the number of sites linking to them and how often they are visited, indicating their popularity. Google also saves the last copy of each page it visits under the "Cached" link. If you're seeking a page that no longer exists, you may still be able to find a copy of it at Google. 

You can call it the filing cabinet of the web!

 When searching for a specific Web site, try Google's "I'm feeling lucky" button on the main search page. It's very good at coming up with exactly what you're looking for. And if you are lucky, you will search no more!

SEARCHES IN:

• Own web database
• Google Directory, powered by Open Directory Project

DEFAULTS TO:

AND

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Main Search page

• Supports (+) and  (-) signs
• Supports double quotes (" ") for phrases
  (useful, even though Google automatically looks for terms in close proximity)
• Displays search options for images, video, news, maps, and more (the list is LONG!)
• Supports Boolean OR, typed in CAPS (for simple search statements only)
• Maintains a stop word list; does not search for stop words unless they are preceded with (+) sign (e.g., Road +to Perdition) or within a phrase enclosed in quotes 
• Displays, when relevant, latest news links above results list

Advanced Search page

• Supports Boolean type searching with the following phrases: "all of the words," "exact phrase," "at least one of the words," and "without the words"
• Provides option to limit results to different "occurrences" or fields, i.e., title, text, URL, links
• Provides option to limit results by language, file format, (e.g., PDF, Postscript, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Rich Text); date range, domain, and adult content, and pages not filtered by license
• Supports customized displays of results from 10-100 per page
• Provides links to "Page-Specific" pages, e.g., those that are similar to the page and pages that link to the page
• Provides links to "Topic-Specific" pages, e.g., Google Book Search (full-text access), Google Scholar (academic papers), Froogle (e-commerce), all things MAC (Apple Macintosh), BSD Unix, Linux, Microsoft, U.S. Government, and University websites

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES:

• Displays "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, which goes directly to top-ranked site in your query
• Provides link to cached page archives, showing copy of page from the last time Google indexed it
• Provides results from related pages clustered by indentation
• Processes both upper and lower case searches the same, resulting in the same number of hits
• Identifies sponsored links and displays them in pastel colored blocks

MSN Directory/Search Engine: A Closer Look

And if before Google, you first knew MSN Search, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with that either.

MSN Search is the main search engine of the MSN directory/portal site. It is recognized, in its own right, as one of the major search engines on the Web. 

 Its look is clean and uncluttered. It combines simplicity with a variety of advanced features available under the Search Builder and Settings links.

SEARCHES IN:

Inktomi database for Web searches
LookSmart for directory searches

DEFAULTS TO:
AND

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Basic Search Page

• Supports (+) and (-) signs
• Supports double quotes (" ")
• Supports category searching (e.g., news, images, news, local, Encarta, stock quotes, movies, shopping and music) by clicking on hot links or using the drop-down menu

Search Builder Link

• Supports Boolean-type searches using drop-down menus for "all of these terms," "any of these terms,"  " this exact phrase," and " none of these terms. "
• Supports searching by domain (e.g., "com" or "edu")
• Allows searching for web pages that link to a specific site
• Provides customized personal preference settings (Results ranking") to search for pages "updated recently", "very popular", or those that are "approximate" or "exact" matches to the terms being searched

Settings Link

• Allows language, country, and regional settings and searches
• Provides adult filter
• Displays from 10 to 50 results per page
• Allows user to set personal location

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES:

• Provides information on URLs typed into search box
• Displays "Sponsored" links in pastel colored blocks before showing search results

Maintains a stop word list; will not search for stop words unless typed as part of a phrase within quotation marks or preceded by a (+) plus sign

Yahoo Directory/Search Engine: A Closer Look

Undecided which is the way to go? Well after learning a little bit more about Yahoo, you might have a harder time deciding! Are we supposed to be making the selection of which route to go easier? Sorry! It’s just that they’re all so great!

Yahoo! Directory, was created by Stanford graduate students, Jerry Yang and David Filo, and was launched in 1994.

It started off as a subject directory with an index of sites compiled into categories. However, in 2002, it made a shift from subject directory to subject directory/search engine by teaming with Google to produce crawler-based listings for its main results. 

 In 2004, it began using a search technology of its own that looks and acts very much like Google. Despite the fact that the Yahoo! Directory page has a crowded and busy appearance, the Yahoo! Search page began by sporting a rather spare, clean look similar to that of Google. Now, however, it's beginning to get a little busier.

 The Advanced Search page also has a cleaner, less cluttered look and provides the searcher with a suite of advanced search options. 

SEARCHES IN:

• Own subject directory
• Web 

DEFAULTS TO:

OR

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Main Directory Page

• Provides box for Web searching on top of page
• Offers smorgasbord of links, as typical of directory pages

Main Search Page

• Searches the Web using its own search technology
• Supports (+) and (-) signs
• Supports double quotes (" ") for phrases
• Offers links to searching by Image, Video, Audio, Directory, Local, News, Shopping, etc.
• Offers links to email, breaking news headlines, and stock market updates

Advanced Search Page

• Supports Boolean-type searching with phrases, "all of these words," "exact phrase," "any of these words," and "none of these words"
• Supports field searching "any part of the page," "title," or "URL," using drop-down menus
• Allows user to specify page update ranges (anytime, or within past 3 months, 6 months or year)
• Supports site/domain searching with radio buttons
• Supports searching by file format
• Allows customized filtering option
• Supports searching by country
• Supports searching by language
• Allows setting results per page from 10 to 100
• Provides product web search options

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES:

• Links to Yahoo! News, for breaking news and headlines
• Links to topic and region-specific Yahoos!
• Supports automatic truncation, with wildcard (*)
• Maintains a stop word list; does not search for stop words unless typed as part of a phrase within quotation marks

Graveyard for Dead Search Engines

You know the saying that states that all good things come to an end? Well in the case of expired search engines, it is safe to say that not all things that came to an end were great. If as you went through this tutorial you realized there have been search engines you have not come across in a while, then here is your answer! They have been retired. Sites such as AltaVista, AskJeeves, Excite, and many others are no more. And if you are wondering why some of these became extinct, here are some answers.

AlltheWeb, March 25, 2004

• AlltheWeb  is still out there, it's not the same search engine.  Many of the advanced search features have disappeared.  Its database has been replaced with a version of the Yahoo! search engine database.  Actually, searching the same database at Yahoo! often brings more results than searching it at AlltheWeb.

AltaVista, March 31, 2004

• AltaVista although very popular in its beginnings, within a few years, however, it had morphed into a combination search engine/subject directory and lost its sharp search focus.  Recently, it returned to its origins, presenting a clean, uncluttered interface with attractive colors but since it became one of Yahoo’s acquisitions, it ended up the same way as AlltheWeb.

Ask Jeeves / Teoma, February 2006

• Ask Jeeves the purpose was for it to answer simple questions but because of that it was soon overshadowed better systems such as google because of how limited it was.

Other Dead Search Engines

• Ask Jeeves
• Deja.com
• Direct Hit
• Excite
• Excite News
• Go
• Infoseek
• InvisibleWeb.com
• Flipper
• iWon
• Lycos
• Magellan
• MessageKing
• NBCi (formerly Snap)
• Northern Light
• Openfind
• Teoma
• WebCrawler
• WebTop