Search Engine

Search engines are specialized programs that assist you in locating information on the Web and the Internet.

A search engine is a program that finds Web sites, web pages, images, videos, news maps, and other information related to a specific topic

For example, Yahoo’s search engine like most others, provides two different search approaches keyword search and directory search

Keyword search

In a keyword search, you enter a keyword or phrase reflecting the information you want. The search engine compares your entry again its database and returns a list of hits, or sites that contain the keywords. Each hit includes a hyperlink to the referenced Web page (or other resource) along with a brief discussion of the information contained at that location. Many searches result in a large number of hits. For example, if you were to enter the keyword travel, you would get thousands of hits. Search engines order the hits according to those sites that most likely contain the information requested and present the list to you in that order, usually in groups of 10.

Directory search

Most search engines also provide a directory or list of categories or topics such as Autos, Finance and Games. In a directory search, you select a category or topic that fits the information that you want.

Example of search engine