A search engine is an online resource that systematically catalogues the contents of the web. When you perform a search, a search engine will bring up relevant webpages matching the words or terms you are interested in.
The information is created by web spiders that crawl through all of the data to create databases with relationships, algorithms and metadata. Large teams of smart software engineers and programmers create software and programs that allows this magic to happen behind the scenes.
There are a number of search engine options you might like to try:
The most well-known search engine is Google. I personally find it one of the most useful and accurate search engines. The company has a stellar range of products and an excellent marketing team backed up world-class software engineers. https://www.google.com.au/
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is my second favourite search engine. You can swap your default to this one, as the privacy options are super sweet. It allows me to perform searches without the filter bubble of personalized search results. This tool doesn’t use a profile for users, so we all see the same results. The system has been designed to be a little more democratic and fairer. https://duckduckgo.com/
Apple Safari
Apple has its own default search engine called Safari. You can use it with your Mac, iPhone and iPad devices. It’s elegant and does the job without much fanfare. https://www.apple.com/au/safari/
Microsoft Bing
Bing promises to help you turn information into action. This search engine is about making it easier and faster to go from searching to doing. If you log in to this Microsoft’s tool then you can participate in the loyalty program (think points and quizzes). https://www.bing.com/
Yahoo
I occasionally use Yahoo – you might like it if you are with them for an email provider. However, I’m personally not a fan of seeing advertising and news while performing a simple search – it’s just distracting. https://au.yahoo.com/
There are lots of ways to improve your use of a search engine. You might like to imagine you are having a conversation with a good friend and how you might describe it to them – in simple terms – what you are looking for. The easiest way is to think of a couple of extra precise words to add.
I miss AltaVista. It was the coolest named search engine.
Please leave a comment and tell us which search engine you like to use?
Photo Credit: by Benjamin Dada on Unsplash