WHAT IS A SEARCH
ENGINE?
EXPLANATION:
DETAILED EXPLANATION:
• A search engine is an online tool that searches for results in its database based
on the search query (keyword) submitted by the internet user. The results are
usually websites that semantically match with the search query.
• Search engines find the results in their database, sort them and make an
ordered list of these results based on the search algorithm. This list is generally
called the search engine results page (SERF).
• There are many search engines on the market, while the most widely used is
Google. Many website browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge usually
come with a default search engine set as a home page or starting page.
THE MOST POPULAR
SEARCH ENGINES
1. GOOGLE
GOOGLE IS THE GIANT IN THE INDUSTRY AND HAS PROBABLY THE MOST SOPHISTICATED
ALGORITHM. IT INCLUDES MACHINE LERNING, AI AND RANKBRAIN, ANOTHER ALGORITHM THAT
CAN TWEAK THE WEIGHTS OF RANKING FACTORS ACCORDING TO USER’S BEHAVIOR AND QUALITY
OF PREVIOUS RESULTS. MORE THAN 70% INTERNET USERS WORLDWIDE DO THEIR SEARCHES ON
GOOGLE SINCE 1998.
2. BAIDU
BAIDU IS THE FIRST SEARCH ENGINE LAUNCHED IN CHINA IN 2000. IT’S LIKE CHINESE GOOGLE.
BAIDU COOPERATES WITH COMPANIES SUCH AS MICROSOFT, QUALCOMM, INTEL OR DAIMLER ON
VARIOUS AI PROJECTS. SIMILARLY TO GOOGLE, THEY OFFER A LOT OF OTHER SOLUTIONS SUCH AS
CLOUD SERVICES, MAPS, SOCIAL NETWORKING, IMAGE AND VIDEO SEARCH AND MANY OTHERS.
3. BING
MICROSOFT LAUNCHED THEIR SEARCH ENGINE IN 2009 AS A NEW PROJECT AFTER EARLIER
SEARCH ENGINES MSN SEARCH AND WINDOWS LIVE SEARCH. THE MAIN GOAL WAS TO
DEVELOP A COMPETITOR FOR GOOGLE. FROM THE GLOBAL POINT OF VIEW, IT’S NOT REALLY
THERE BUT IN THE US, BING IS THE 2ND MOST POPULAR TOOL FOR THE INTERNET SEARCHES.
4. YAHOO!
ORIGINALLY, IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY USED EMAIL PROVIDERS AND SEARCH ENGINES.
THE COMPANY GREW SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE 1990S BUT AFTER 2000, THEY SOMEHOW STARTED
LACKING THE INNOVATION AND LOST THEIR VALUE. IN 2017, YAHOO! WAS ACQUIRED BY
VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS.
5. YANDEX
YANDEX SEARCH IS THE MAJOR RUSSIAN SEARCH ENGINE. ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA, YANDEX
GENERATES MORE THAN 50% OF ALL SEARCHES IN RUSSIA. THOUGH THE ALGORITHM IS NOT AS
SOPHISTICATED AS GOOGLE, IT CONSTANTLY GETS BETTER BY INTEGRATING AI AND MACHINE
LEARNING THAT ANALYZE SEARCHES AND LEARN FROM THEM.
6. ASK
ASK (FORMERLY ASK JEEVES) WAS LAUNCHED IN 1996. IT WAS DESIGNED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
SUBMITTED TO THE SEARCH FORM. THANKS TO THE ASK TOOLBAR, THIS SEARCH ENGINE WAS ABLE TO
COMPETE WITH BIG PLAYERS SUCH AS BING, YAHOO! AND GOOGLE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE TOOLBAR
WAS MANY TIMES INSTALLED AS AN UNWANTED BROWSER FEATURE
7. DUCKDUCKGO
DUCKDUCKGO IS A BIT DIFFERENT SEARCH ENGINE. THEY PROTECT THE USERS’ PRIVACY BY NOT TRACKING
ANY INFORMATION. DUCKDUCKGO DOESN’T SHOW PERSONALIZED RESULTS BASED ON YOUR PREVIOUS
SEARCHES. LIKEWISE, ADVERTISERS CAN’T FOLLOW THE BEHAVIOR OF THE USERS. ON THE OTHER HAND,
YOU CAN LAUNCH ADS VIA BING SINCE DUCKDUCKGO IS THEIR SEARCH PARTNER TOGETHER WITH YAHOO.
8. NAVER
NAVER IS THE GOOGLE OF SOUTH KOREA. THIS SEARCH ENGINE COVERS AROUND 75% OF SEARCHES IN
THE COUNTRY. IT WAS LAUNCHED IN 1999 AND IN 2000 IT WAS ABLE TO PULL OUT VARIOUS TYPES OF
RESULTS THAT MATCH THE ENTERED KEYWORDS. THE RESULTS INCLUDED WEBSITES, IMAGES, BLOGS,
RESTAURANTS, SHOPS, ETC. GOOGLE LAUNCHED THIS FEATURE 5 YEARS LATE
9. AOL
IN THE 1990’S, AOL WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST CRAWLER-BASED SEARCH ENGINES. AS A COMPANY, AOL OFFERS A LOT OF OTHER SERVICES: EMAIL
SERVICE, INSTANT MESSENGER, VIDEO CONTENT, YELLOW PAGES, CITY GUIDES. THE AOL SEARCH IS NOWADAYS USED BY NOT MORE THAN 0.5%
OF THE INTERNET USERS.
10. DOGPILE
DOGPILE IS A METASEARCH ENGINE, SO IT CREATES THE SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS PAGE BY DOING SIMULTANEOUS SEARCH REQUESTS FOR THE
SAME QUERY IN OTHER SEARCH ENGINES, NAMELY: GOOGLE, YAHOO!, YANDEX AND OTHERS. DOGPILE WAS LAUNCHED IN 1995.
