SEARCH ENGINES....WOOHOOOOOO!

What is a search engine?

A Search Engine is a computer program that electronically searches the contents of a database to locate specific information.

The search engine allows one to ask for content meeting specific criteria (typically those containing a given word or phrase) and retrieves a list of items that match those criteria. This list is often sorted with respect to some measure of relevance of the results. Search engines use regularly updated indexes to operate quickly and efficiently.

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?

When a user comes to the search engine and makes a query, typically by giving key words, the engine looks up the index and provides a listing of best-matching web pages according to its criteria, usually with a short summary containing the document's title and sometimes parts of the text.

The algorithm is a set of rules, search engines follow when ranking web pages.
The most important rule is the Location/Frequency Method:
This is where the Search Engine uses keywords from your search and ranks them by their location and frequency in the text on the different webpages.

What are some of your favourite search engines? Why do you like one more than others?

GOOGLE GOOGLE GOOGLE GOOGLE GOOGLE! definently! i guess it is because it is so well known and i follow the trend. But also because i actually find it the most effective. I sometimes use yahoo or dogpile but dont find it as accurate and effective. THEREFORE google all the way!

Can you find some current news stories about search engines?

This is a recent article I found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4645596.stm


Google censors itself for China

Leading internet company Google has said it will censor its search services in China in order to gain greater access to China's fast-growing market.

Google has offered a Chinese-language version of its search engine for years but users have been frustrated by government blocks on the site. The company is setting up a new site - Google.cn - which it will censor itself to satisfy the authorities in Beijing.

Google argued it would be more damaging to pull out of China altogether.

Critics warn the new version could restrict access to thousands of sensitive terms and web sites. Such topics are likely to include independence for Taiwan and the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

The Chinese government keeps a tight rein on the internet and what users can access. The BBC news site is inaccessible, while a search on Google.cn for the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement directs users to a string of condemnatory articles.

Google's move in China comes less than a week after it resisted efforts by the US Department of Justice to make it disclose data on what people were searching for.

Google hopes its new address will make the search engine easier to use and quicker.
Its e-mail, chat room and blogging services will not be available because of concerns the government could demand users' personal information.

Google said it planned to notify users when access had been restricted on certain search terms.
The company argues it can play a more useful role in China by participating than by boycotting it, despite the compromises involved.

"While removing search results is inconsistent with Google's mission, providing no information (or a heavily degraded user experience that amounts to no information) is more inconsistent with our mission," a statement said.

Julian Pain, internet spokesman for campaign group Reporters Without Borders, said Google's decision to "collaborate" with the Chinese government was "a real shame".

The number of internet search users in China is predicted to increase from about 100 million currently to 187 million in two years' time.

A survey last August revealed Google was losing market share to Beijing-based rival Baidu.com.
Last year, Yahoo was accused of supplying data to China that was used as evidence to jail a Chinese journalist for 10 years.