A search engine or search service is a program designed to help find information stored on a computer system such as the World Wide Web, inside a corporate or proprietary network 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. 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, personal search engines, which search individual personal computers, and mobile search engines. However, while different selection and relevance criteria may apply in different environments, the user will probably perceive little difference between operations in these. 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 search engines owned by other companies.

History

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The very first tool used for searching on the Internet was Archie. (The name stands for "archive" without the "v", not the character from the 'Archie' comic book series). It was created in 1990 by Alan Emtage, a student at McGill University in Montreal. The program downloaded the directory listings of all the files located on public anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites, creating a searchable database of filenames.

While Archie indexed computer files, Gopher indexed plain text documents. Gopher was created in 1991 by Mark McCahill at the University of Minnesota. (The program was named after the school's mascot). Because these were text files, most of the Gopher sites became Web sites after the creation of the World Wide Web.

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Search Engines - Twitter Search

RT: @jpiedrahita: The Ultimate Threat to Search Engines? http://bit.ly/4p3U7O
Recuenco (Javier G. Recuenco) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:34:03 -0000
RT: @jpiedrahita: The Ultimate Threat to Search Engines? http://bit.ly/4p3U7O
read John C. Dvorak's negative take on SEO (http://tinyurl.com/old-gimp) - I personally agree, I *love* tricky those search engines
Tambourinos (Michael Thomson) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:32:32 -0000
read John C. Dvorak's negative take on SEO (http://tinyurl.com/old-gimp) - I personally agree, I *love* tricky those search engines
mobile culture trends: will smartphone apps change people’s reliance on search engines? (NYTimes) http://is.gd/5MLug
sidneyeve (Sidneyeve Matrix) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:32:22 -0000
mobile culture trends: will smartphone apps change people’s reliance on search engines? (NYTimes) http://is.gd/5MLug
RT @webseoanalytics: #SEO Tip:Showing different content to users and to search engines can lead to bans. #google #yahoo #bing #web
kambingakikah (Layanan Akikah Murah) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:30:27 -0000
RT @webseoanalytics: #SEO Tip:Showing different content to users and to search engines can lead to bans. #google #yahoo #bing #web
Interesante sumar esto al tráfico que generan redes sociales RT @jpiedrahita: The Ultimate Threat to Search Engines? http://bit.ly/4p3U7O
JulioAlonso (Julio Alonso) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:30:22 -0000
Interesante sumar esto al tráfico que generan redes sociales RT @jpiedrahita: The Ultimate Threat to Search Engines? http://bit.ly/4p3U7O
[resources] Free Technology for Teachers: Understanding Search Engines http://bit.ly/8XKohI
yamasas (yamasas) Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:29:19 -0000
[resources] Free Technology for Teachers: Understanding Search Engines http://bit.ly/8XKohI

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