THE BEST SEARCH ENGINES
Search Engine Update 2008
Some people have wondered why I wanted to include a page devoted to web search on the Racine de Monville Home Page. It goes back to 1996 when I first started surfing the internet and when I created the site. In those days, search engines were not very sophisticated. You could run a search for a simple term and easily end up with hundreds of thousands of hits, of which tens of thousands would have probably been for pornography or scams.Another thing happend: a lot of those early earch engines boycotted Geocities and would not include Geocities websites in their search data bases.
Consequently, I became intersted in search, mainly in order to bring this site to the attention of people who were searching the internet.
A lot has changed in the years since I first posted the Search page on this site in 2001.
The main event is that Google has become the primary search engine for tens of millions of people around the world, followed closely by Yahoo. When this page was first posted, probably a score of search engines were available, each using a different algorithm; since that time, most of them have disappeared. Some, such as Northern Light, either transmuted or metathesize into another format. Others, such as Hotbot, Teoma, Metafilter and Alltheweb (first known as FAST) were acquired or assimilated by other search engines. Singingfish, a specialized and extremely useful search engine focusing on music and video, was absorbed into AOL and is now unrecognizeable.
On the other hand, there still appears to be a need for certain specialized search engines. Ixquick, with its unique star rating system, has survived. So has Clusty [formerly known as Vivisimo], utilizng clustered search results.
Search engines that display thumbnail previews appear to be increasing; a French site, Exalead, provides very accurate results. Snap even displays gigantic page previews instead of thumbnails. I've provided search boxes below for both Snap and Exalead.
Search engines dedicated to languages other than English are also increasing. Exalead and Mozbot both concentrate on the Francophone web.
Natural language search engines�where users write their search in the form of a question�are developing. Answer Bus is a particularly successful example of this technique.
In 2008 a new search trend started: search engines that contribute to charitable causes.
At least four of these sites have been launched in France: Doona, Hooseek, Ethicle and Veosearch.
GoodSearch is an American charitable search engine. According to the website, you can choose from thousands of organizations or add your favorite cause to the list. Search the Internet using GoodSearch� the site is powered by Yahoo! Fifty percent of the revenue generated from advertisers is shared with the charity, school or nonprofit organization of your choosing.
Ethicle is unique in that it operates in partnership with a non-profit organization, Planete Urgence, that undertakes and sponsors reforestation projects around the world: for every 100 searches on Ethicle.com, one tree is planted in countries such as Madagascar, Mali, Benin and Indonesia. I've added an Ethicle search box below so you can try it out.
The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines is the title of an excellent overview by Charles Knight of the various solutions to search that are currently available to internauts.
Mr. Knight writes, "In my travels as a Search Engine Optimizer...I have discovered...a vast multitude of the most innovative and creative search engines you have never seen. So many, in fact, that I have had to limit my list of the very best ones to a mere 100." So, check them out, from A9 to ZUULA. If you love searching the internet, this is going to be your Nirvana!
And if all that isn't enough, Mr. Knight has a website called Alt Search Engines, where you can discover even more new search engines!
To keep up on new developments in web search, consult Search Engine Watch, which has established a reputation over the years as an excellent source for news and information regarding web search.
Finally, Search Engine Dictionary is a complete guide to search engine terminology. It's an alphabetical listing of hundreds of terms and definitions related to search engines. Consult the Search Engine Dictionary on line or download a free copy of the complete book in PDF format.
December 2008
Search this site! 
AnswerBus is a search engine that makes all the others seem antediluvian by comparison. Instead of entering search terms and trying to remember how to use those Boolean symbols, with AnswerBus you simply write a question in plain English (or in plain French, Spanish, German, Italian or Portuguese).
AnswerBus actually gives you a list of answers, each of which is a hyperlink to the source page.
A new search engine called Cuil (Irish for "knowledge,") claims to be "the world's biggest search engine." According to the management, "Cuil searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance, then analyzes the rest of its content, its concepts, their inter-relationships and the page�s coherency, and offers helpful choices and suggestions until you find the page you want and that you know is out there." I tested it but found the results disappointing. But perhaps you will have better luck. Read a devasting review of Cuil by by John C. Dvorak. Ouch!
StumbleUpon is a browser add-on for finding and sharing great websites. Unlike directories or search engines, StumbleUpon uses member ratings to form collective human opinions on website quality. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Try it!
WorldCat.org lets you Search many libraries for an item and then locate it in a library near you. Use WorldCat to find books, music, and videos to check out. Find research articles and digital items (like audiobooks) that can be directly viewed or downloaded. Link to "Ask a Librarian" and other services at your library. WorldCat is fabulous! Try it now and check out the new enhancements to WorldCat discovery experience.
Click this button to access the GoodSearch charitable engine, as described above.
KartOO is a meta-search engine that displays its results in map form. It also creates a list of your searches. I tested it and it worked very well; use the search box below to test KartOO for yourself.
With Zuula, it is quick and convenient to get results from all the top search engines. Search engines often return very different results for the same terms. So checking multiple search engines will give you the best results, and Zuula makes it easy. Currently, Zuula offers Web, Image, Video, News, Blog, and Job searches.
With Snap Search Anywhere, you'll have visual previews of what you're searching for, fast keyboard navigation of results, and a welcome alternative to the page of links you'd get from Big Search.
Ixquick claims to be "The most powerful meta search engine on the web." Ixquick searches fourteen major search engines and displays results that ranked by relevancy. Ixquick is the only search engine using a star system to rate each result. Uncluttered interface. A dream to use.
AlltheWeb (formerly FAST) has the goal of building the world's largest search engine and claims to have "the most sophisticated advanced search features."
AlltheWeb is currently searching more than 3,151,743,117 web pages, hundreds of millions of multimedia, Audio and FTP files, as well as tens of millions of PDF and MS Word� files.
Plus, AlltheWeb has many advanced features such as a skins gallery, where you can select your own AlltheWeb interface or customize your own AlltheWeb skin.
Dogpile--all the best search engines piled into one: Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com
Clusty [formerly known as Viv�simo] web search queries one or more web search engines, parses their result pages to extract the documents (titles, URLs, and short descriptions),groups the documents based on this information, not the full web pages, orders the groups and the documents within each group and displays the hierarchical categories. Try it!
MetaCrawler�, dating back to 1995, is one of the first metasearch engines. MetaCrawler uses innovative metasearch technology to search the Internet's top search engines, including Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search, Ask.com, and more, then retrieves the best search results and organizes them in a uniform format, ranking them by relevance. MetaCrawler� has undergone several permutations and is now part of Infospace.
Mamma.com is a "smart" meta-search engine - every time you type in a query Mamma simultaneously searches a variety of engines, directories, and deep content sites, properly formats the words and syntax for each, compiles their results in a virtual database, eliminates duplicates, and displays them in a uniform manner according to relevance. Mamma.com is now owned by Copernic, Inc.
The Open Directory Project's goal is to produce the most comprehensive directory of the web, by relying on a vast army of volunteer editors. With over 1.8 million listings in 283,798 categories, it includes more pages than Yahoo. The Open Directory's motto: "Humans do it bettter."
Can't forget Google!
The Internet Public Library (IPL)is compiled and organized at the University of Michigan School of Information. The IPL is browsable by subject category and searchable by keyword. There are numerous special collection of over 20,000 online books. It's just like going to the library, except you access the IPL from your desktop!
Try out Logos, the Multilingual E-Translation Portal. LOGOS - Multilingual E-Translation Portal
Gr�ce � vos recherches, Ethicle, en partenariat avec Plan�te Urgence plante des arbres. 100 recherches = 1 arbre plant�.
Lire et poster votre commentaire sur Mozblog, le blog du moteur de recherche Mozbot.fr.
This convenient search box will allow you to access the Yahoo! directory.
Use this search box to search the millions of Yahoo! GeoCities member pages.
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