Search Engines

Search Engines

1. How do search engines work?

   • The first thing you need to know, is that when you search something up, the computer does not run your search in real time.
     • Why?
       • Because there are billions of websites and hundreds are being created every minute. So that means that it would take FOREVER for a computer to find what you are looking for.
     • What do they do then?
       • Search engines are constantly scanning the web in advance to record information that could help with a search later.
         • So how does that work?
           • So, all websites are connected by web of hyperlinks. A search engine is constantly running an algorithm called a spider.
             • What is a 'spider'?
               • It is where the engine finds one hyperlink and follows it, collecting all of the information along the way until it has visited every single web page on that hyperlink. It sores all the information on its search index.
             • Ok, so i know what a 'spider' is but how does this help in my search?
               • When you search something the search engine will look on its search index to find what pages contain each word that you have searched up.
                 • But here is still gets millions of results so it may have to GUESS what you are asking about.
                   • Then it will look at the titles of websites to see if there are synonyms and if they contain the key words that you have searched with.
                     • Finally, it uses a top secret ranking algorithm to decide what pages to put top.
         • How does that help with future searches?
           • It means that the search engine already has the information you need so it can access it really quickly.

2. Examples of search engines:

   • Google
     • Alexa Rank: 1
     • Estimated Monthly Users: 1.5 billion
     • Worldwide Market Share: 74.8%
   • Bing
     • Alexa Rank: 41
     • Estimated Monthly Users: 500 million
     • Worldwide Market Share: 8.08%
   • Yahoo
     • Alexa Rank: 6
     • Estimated MOnthly Users: 490 million
     • Worldwide Market Share: 3.37%
   • Baidu
     • Alexa Rank: 4
     • Estimated Monthly Users: 480 million.
     • Worldwide Market Share: 11.3%

3. Why are search engines so useful?

   • Because it takes seconds to get information- anything and everything is just a few keystrokes away.
   • Going to a library and finding the correct information could take hours.