Search engine

A search engine is a program designed to help find information stored on a computer system such as the World Wide Web, or a personal computer. 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 references that match those criteria. Search engines use regularly updated indexes to operate quickly and efficiently.

Related Topics:
Program - Computer system - World Wide Web - Phrase

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Without further qualification, search engine usually refers to a Web search engine, which searches for information on the public Web. Other kinds of search engine are enterprise search engines, which search on intranets and personal search engines, which search individual personal computers.

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Some search engines also mine data available in newsgroups, large databases, or open directories like DMOZ.org. Unlike Web directories, which are maintained by human editors, search engines operate algorithmically. Most web sites which call themselves search engines, are actually front ends to other search engines owned by other companies. The typical user will often not know which underlying search engine they are using.

Related Topics:
DMOZ.org - Web directories

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