In this article, you will learn what is a search engine and how does it work?
A search engine is a set of programs used to search for information in a specific area and gather that information into a database. People often use the term in reference to Internet search engines, which are specifically designed to search the Internet, but they can also be designed for offline content, such as a library catalog, the contents of a personal hard drive, or a catalog of museum collections. These programs assist people in organizing and displaying information in a way that makes it easily available.
A search engine has three aspects: crawling, indexing, and searching. When an engine crawls, it looks for new content that was not present during the last crawl, including updates to files and Web pages. Then programs index the information, extracting specific keywords to classify it. On the Internet, for example, indexing is based largely on the keywords on Web pages and the meta tags that provide information about the page.
Once the information has been indexed, information on how to access it is stored in a database. Some programs also store or "cache" information to make it easier to find. When a user searches the database, it shows results sorted by relevance. On AminEducate, for example, a search on "Link Exchange" will return articles about link exchange, including, of course, "What is link exchange?"
While all search engines operate in a similar way, their usefulness can be quite varied. They largely depend on complex algorithms to rank the relevance of their search results, especially those for frequently used keywords. Users tend to gravitate to those that return results they like, and websites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing compete for users with various features designed to make their searches more appealing and relevant.
Google has come to be so associated with the process of searching the web that it is often colloquially referred to as "googling." The company is actually not very happy about this, as it fears that the use of its name in lower case, as well as generic use, will contribute to brand dilution.
Many Internet search engines are smart enough to learn from their users, incorporating user activity into their relevance rankings. They also rely on information such as links to other pages and a site's reputation to rank search results, all in a fraction of a section. Skilled users can sometimes manipulate search results, but many programs are changing and evolving to help combat this practice.
This was an overview of what is a search engine and how does it work? I hope you enjoyed it.
