Searching for Search Engines

Search engines are online services that allow users to scan the contents of the Internet to find Web sites or specific information of interest to them. A user inputs a search term, and the search engine attempts to match this term to categories or keywords in its catalog of World Wide Web sites. The search engine then generates a list of sites that match the search criteria, ranked in order of relevance. Search engines help organize the more than two billion pages of information on the World Wide Web and make them accessible to Internet users.*


I wasn’t sure what to blog about today, but the answer came when I clicked on the Internet Explorer icon, and I was directed to the Bing Search Engine homepage. I use Google on my laptop, but we have Bing on our home computer. I use both computers and search engines frequently, but I must say, I like the layout of the Bing Homepage. Bing always features a wonderful photograph that allows users to get more information by scrolling over the photo. Usually, there are several pieces of information about the photo, along with links to read more. (It’s especially effective for procrastinating.)

In its defense, Google is also very creative in its logo design to reflect a news story. When you scroll over the word “Google,” more information pops up there, as well. I loved the recent Google animation that celebrated the work of Martha Graham.

Finding information on the internet is easy. Finding exactly what you want from credible sources can be more challenging. When you are researching, which search engines do you use? Do you try more than one? If so, which ones? When I have trouble finding what I’m looking for, I’ll try Bing, Google, Yahoo, AltaVista or Dogpile.

Which one do you use?

Talk to you soon,


Mary



*From the Gale Encyclopedia of Small Business accessed 5-22-11