 |
 Metasearch
Engines
Another "power user" technique is to use
a metasearch engine. These engines do not crawl the web putting together
their own databases of terms. Instead, they simply submit your query to
multiple search engines simultaneously. Depending on the metasearch engine,
you receive back either (1) a single merged list with duplicate entries
deleted, or (2) a display of the top results from each search engine queried.
The advantages? Not only do metasearchers increase Web coverage several
fold, but they are fast and can also provide a quick way of finding out
which engines out there are retrieving the best results for you, given
your particular search. That sounds great!
The downside? Well, you usually don't have many of the
more powerful features of individual search engines (e.g., Boolean operators,
truncation, and the like). Also, metasearch engines tend to focus on lesser-known
search engines. Few, for example, query Google, one of the largest and
most popular search engines on the Web. So when do you use a metasearcher?
When you are in a hurry and want to get a quick overview of a subject,
or when you are not having any luck pulling up documents using a regular
search engine.
Here are some examples of metasearch engines:
| Beaucoup
|
Indexes search engines by subject. When you select a subject, it
presents you with a variety of search engines and databases for that
subject. |
| Dogpile
|
Once a favorite among searchers, Dogpile now uses paid listings.
Keep this in mind when evaluating search results. Results are listed
by search engine. |
| Flipper
|
Indexes other search engines and Open Directory. It's large and
efficient. |
| IBoogie |
Clusters results into types of documents. |
| Ixquick
|
Searches the top Web search engines and supports some advanced search
techniques. Uses a star rating system, in which a star is given for
each search engine that placed a site in its top ten. The theory is
that a site appearing in multiple top ten lists is likely to be relevant.
Search options include web, news, MP3, and pictures. |
| Metacrawler
|
Powered by InfoSpace, MetaCrawler is a meta-search engine that searches
the Internet's top search engines such as About, Ask Jeeves, FAST,
FindWhat, LookSmart, Overture, and others. |
| Metor
|
Metor is a search and retrieval system that integrates information
from hundreds of databases whose contents cannot be reached by traditional
search engines. Metor includes specialized databases, archives and
catalogs for highly targeted information. |
| Profusion
|
Powered by Itelliseek, Profusion is customizable and can search
Altavista, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, All the Web, About, Lycos, Teoma, and
a variety of other search engines. |
| qbSearch
|
A customizable metasearch engine, with some features accessible
only by subscription. |
| Search
|
This one is part of CNET which is generally a good resource for
reviews. |
| Search
Engine Colossus |
An index of search engines listed by country and category as well
as by language. |
| Searchengines.com |
An index of search engines by geographical subject and topical areas
covered. |
| SurfWax
|
Taps the major search engines including Google. Results are merged
and ranked by relevancy. Results with a magnifying glass icon beside
them have quick summaries (SiteSnaps) that may be viewed before deciding
to summon the page. This helps you to see the context in which your
terms appear. Options for sorting and number of results displayed
are available. |
| Vivisimo
|
Performs document clustering (based on titles, URLs, and short descriptions)
so that users may browse the results by hierarchical categories. |
| Webcrawler
|
Also provides ratings of web sites. |
Select 2 or 3 of the metasearch engines listed above.
Now search for a particular topic (such as, Challenger
disaster, or perhaps the Louis Vuitton Cup).
Compare the results. Which metasearch engine seemed to perform better
on that particular search? What specific features did you like best?
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