AltaVista
>
One of the most used
search engines available on the Internet due to it's
quick response, rapid indexing, and monstrous
database. AltaVista is terrific for unearthing exact
matches to highly specific queries. It loses its benefits
with broad topic searches, which simply return too
many results, too many dead links or misdirects, due
to the enormous size of its database and the ability
for users to submit pages with misleading indexing
information.
Excite >
Excite maintains a loose
hierarchical search index, supplemented with a lot of
in-house "portal" content. The search index
provides good results, with some great supplemental
material relevant to the last search performed.
GoTo.com >
A unique search engine
indexed by partnered advertisers based on a pay per
submission bidding mechanism. By charging a listing
fee and tightly managing the database, GoTo.com
searches will provide accurate results to legitimate
web space. Additionally, since GoTo.com generates
revenues from submitted hosts, they can afford to
abandon the "features" typical on other
portals: ads, chats, free email, etc... GoTo.com is
the only "pure search" site on the web.
Simple. Fast.
HotBot >
Wired magazine's partner
site, providing highly stylized methods for searching
the web. HotBot allows searches for pages in specific
languages, carrying information sorted by date,
traditional hierarchical indexing with multiple term
searches, and even page source requirements, like
sites with images or Java.
Infoseek
>
A mega-portal included
as part of the "Go" network, the web
designation of the Disney family of sites: Disney
Studios, ABC, and ESPN, to name a few. What Infoseek
lacks in traditional search functionality, it recoups
in the integration of so many renowned media sources.
A terrific place to search for information on current
events.
Looksmart
>
Owned by Reader's
Digest, among the mostly highly regarded print
publications this century. Looksmart takes the same
editorial standards Reader's Digest brought to the
print medium and applies them to web pages, providing
Internet users a highly filtered source for content.
Due to the Looksmart priority of quality over
quantity, searches for obscure material will rarely
return results.
Lycos >
Similar to Excite, a
hybrid of keyword matching and human maintained
content, packaged with a lot of current event
information and "what's hot" features on the
Internet. Lycos is among the oldest and most
comprehensive engines on the net, allowing the
filtering of advanced search criteria, consistent
results, and unique file type indexing, such as the
popular .mp3 format, and file only (FTP) services.
Magellan
>
Before About.com or
Looksmart, there was Magellan, the oldest human rated
content search engine on the web. Submitted sites to
Magellan are graded by content quality and
cohesiveness, and are then categorized in a
hierarchical database, ensuring accurate, high quality
search results.
WebCrawler
>
Historically a keyword
match engine, WebCrawler has recently been revamped to
provide a clean, fast interface and a world of new
functionality improvements. An amalgam of GoTo.com,
AltaVista, and Infoseek, search results from
WebCrawler are categorized into web page matches,
advertiser matches, and current news matches.
Additionally, WebCrawler is among the fastest at
indexing sites, so you're likely to find the latest
new content through searches here first.
Yahoo! >
Yahoo! has earned the
distinction of being the single most visited web site
in the world, and has held this honor for several
years. Yahoo! invented the concept of hierarchical
database searching, and is the leading integrator of
new content. Yahoo! offers nearly everything
imaginable on the web: free email, site hosting,
chats, auctions, news, finance, sports... the list
goes on. Complimented by a monthly publication
available at all newsstands, Yahoo! is the granddaddy
of the Internet portals.
Yahooligans
> A nice search engine for kids
Homeschooling
