Search Engines

http://www.google.com/trends/2014/

http://www.google.com/trends/2014/
story/top-questions.html
Top questions is interesting in itself!
Interesting how it changes when
Global is changed to e.g. UK

What is a Search Engine

Image the World Wide Web as a
library with hundreds of bookshelves
containing thousands of books
containing millions of pages .......
Search Engines are the librarians..
They catalogue the content of the
books/pages
They keep records of what book is where
They know where the book is kept

What is a Search Engine?

When you ask for a book, or a
specific piece of information the
librarian interprets your request (e.g.
something about cats)
And goes to fetch a book or a selection
of books depending on how specific your
request was

What is a Search Engine?

Of course the WWW is enormous it
contains billions of websites, images
and files all scattered around the
world in huge interlinked computers
(i.e. It uses the Internet) .
The Web is not the Internet, your
browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox,
Chrome) is not a Search Engine, they
all work together however to allow
you to find information on the Web

What is a Search Engine?

Google, Bing, Yahoo - These are all search
engines
Search Engines are always working because
they have 2 main functions even if we
usually only are aware of one
1 Crawling and Indexing Crawling the web is done by little
programs called Crawlers or Spiders, they travel every strand and
link of the web and whatever they find they analyse for content;
then they store selected pieces, with the location of the original
document, in massive databases. Each search engine employs
their own Spiders and create their own databases.
2 Providing Answers to Questions When you type a question to
a Search Engine the words you type are compared to the words
on millions of web pages so the words you use and the way you

Other Search Engines

Search Entire Web

What is a Search
Engine
Each search engine uses slightly different rules to decide how relevant
to your question the information on a particular site or page is
To a search engine, relevance means more than finding a page with the
right words. In the early days of the web, search engines didnt go much
further than this simplistic step, and search results were of limited
value. Over the years, smart engineers have devised better ways to
match results to searchers queries. Today, hundreds of factors
influence relevance.
Search engines typically assume that the more popular a site, page, or
document, the more valuable the information it contains must be. This
assumption has proven fairly successful in terms of user satisfaction
with search results.
Popularity and relevance arent determined manually. Instead, the
engines employ mathematical equations (algorithms) to sort the wheat
from the chaff (relevance), and then to rank the wheat in order of
quality (popularity).

Search engines want to know..

What you are looking for?

This is not as easy as it sounds. Many searchers don't know what they are looking for and others
don't know how to input their search query in a way that the search engine can process it.
A good search engine takes the individual into consideration and pre-determines what they'd most
likely be searching for.
This can be influenced by the popularity of a website;1)thesearch trends(what is mostly typed
in as search queries during that period),2)theauthorityof the websitesand3)your
ownpersonal preferencesthat the search engine automatically detects or through your input, in
advanced search options for example.
It is critical for a search engine to deliver a satisfactory result to the searcher and an awesome
responsibility to do it fairly. The moment a search engine gives biased results it looses credibility
and searchers will stop using it!
Search engines search the web which is made up of over 30,000,000,000,000 web pages and is
constantly growing.

How do search engines work?

In the past webmasters used to try and cheat
the search engines, they would buy extra
links , use words in the titles that had no real
relevance to the site content or hijack another
websites name the popularity of the top
search engines is mainly due to their constant
efforts to provide legitimate results
At the moment...
-Google- Most used search engine
-Yahoo is the 2'nd largest search engine
-Bing is the search engine developed by Microsoft

How can you use search engines

effectively?
The uses of search engines are endless and they are
undeniably valuable to most economies in the world
today.
The fact is everyone is searching for something from
birth and until the day they die. You can find
information on almost every topic. There are a lot of
resources on the world wide web, but unfortunately it
can be difficult to find reliable information. That is
where understanding the operation of various search
engines can help us.

A quality site?
A website can easily give the impression of
candor and honesty, but that can mean very
little. One of the roles of a quality search
engine is to check the authority behind a site.
Ifthe publishergets a reputation of producing
fraudulent material, it will count against his
work and vice versa, it will help material to
be easily found that has been produced by a
reliable author, someone that has been
recommended by other reliable publishers.

What is a search engine

Currently, this is where a lot of emphasis is
being placed in search engine
optimization.Those who optimize websites
for search engines have had to change their
strategies dramaticallyin the last few years.
SEO specialists are growing in number
every day and not surprisingly the
competition for them to rank their own
websites is the toughest online.

What about Spam

Spam is unsolicited advertising
either via an e-mail or website
https://www.google.com/search/abou
t/insidesearch/howsearchworks/fighti
ng-spam.html

Note the result numbers

Different Search Engines different

results

Do you see all the net?

TheInvisible Webis easily accessible..that is, if you know
where to look. Many individuals and institutions have put
together invisible Web directories, which you can use as a
jumping off point to surf the Invisible Web. Here are just a few:
The University of Michigan has put togetherOAIster, and
encourages you to "find the pearls" on the Invisible Web. They
have millions of records from more than 405 institutions as
diverse as African Journals Online and the Library Network of
Western Switzerland.
Web Search Engine
Search
Web Portal
Site Web
Library

 LookSmart'sFind Articles.comlets you search print publications for articles; anything from popular magazines to
scholarly journals. Be sure to check out theirFurltool to organize your Invisible Web search snippets.
TheLibrary Spotis a collection of databases, online libraries, references, and other good info from the Invisible Web. Be
sure to check out their "You Asked For It" section, where popular readers' questions are featured.
The US Government's official web portal isFirstGov.gov, an extremely deep (as in lots of content) site. You could spend
hours here. It's interesting to note how much stuff you can get done online here as well, such as renew your driver's
license, shop government auctions, and contact elected officials.
Search the vast holding of theUCLA Libraryonline, including their special collections only found on the Invisible Web.
Check outInfoplease.comand its searchable Invisible Web databases. Results come from encyclopedias, almanacs,
dictionaries, and other online resources only found on the Invisible The Central Intelligence Agency has theWorld
Factbook, a searchable directory of flags of the world, reference maps, country profiles, and much, much more. Great for
geography buffs or anyone who wants to learn more about their world.
University of Idaho has created thisRepository of Primary Sources, which contains links to manuscripts, archives, rare
books, and much more. Covers not only the United States, but countries all over the world.
Lund University Libraries maintains theDirectory of Open Access Journals, a collection of searchable scientific and
scholarly journals on theInvisible Web.
Looking for scientific information on the Invisible Web? Go toScirus.comfirst. You can search either scholarly sources or
Web sources or both.
Canada, ay? Then check out theArchival Records of Alberta. This is a web gateway to photographs, census records, and
other archival records.
Want to find a plant that will survive overwatering, lack of sunlight, and general forgetfulness? You can probably find
something in the USDA'sPlants Databaseon the Invisible Web.
TheHuman Genome Databasecontains anything you would ever want to know..well, about the human genome on the
Invisible Web, at least.
If you've got a medical question, check outThe Combined Health Information Database, or CHID online. Its searchable
subject directory is very user-friendly, and you can find information on pretty much anything to do with human health
here.
Nonprofit organizations need searching tools too. TheNational Database of Nonprofit Organizationsis an extensive site
on the Invisible Web that not only provides locations and contact information for nonprofits, but also gives detailed
fiscal reports.
EEVL Xtra, a service put together by Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. This excellent service has the ability
to cross-search 20 engineering, mathematics and computing databases, including content from 50 publishers. Find
articles, websites, and more on the Invisible Web.

How Google Works

https://www.google.com/search/about
/insidesearch/howsearchworks/thesto
ry/

How to search effectively

(Google)
Tip 1: Start with the basics
No matter what you're looking for, start with a simple search
likewhere's the closest airport?.You can always adda few
descriptive words if necessary.
If you're looking for a place or product in a specific location, add the
location. For example,bakery paphos
Tip 2: Search using your voice
Tired of typing? Say "Ok Google" or choose the microphone icon to
search using your voice. Learn more about "Ok Google" and voice
search.
Tip 3: Choose words carefully
When you're deciding what words to put in the search box, try to
choose words that are likely to appear on the site you're looking for.
For example, instead of sayingmy head hurts, sayheadache,
because thats the word a medical site would use.

How to search effectively

Tip 4: Dont worry about the little things

Spelling.Google's spell checker automatically uses the most common spelling of a
given word, whether or not you spell it correctly.
Capitalization.A search forNew York Timesis the same as a search fornew york
times.
Tip 5: Find quick answers
For many searches, Google will do the work for you and show an answer to your
question in the search results. Some features, like information about sports teams,
aren't available in all regions.
Weather:Searchweatherto see the weather in your location or add a city name,
likeweather paphos, to find weather for a certain place.
Dictionary:Putdefinein front of any word to see its definition.
Calculations:Enter a math equation like3*9123, or solve complex graphing
equations.
Unit conversions:Enter any conversion, like3 dollars in euros.
Sports:Search for the name of your team to see a schedule, game scores and more.
Quick facts:Search for the name of a celebrity, location, movie, or song to find
related information.

Expert Search tips

Google Images & Reverse Search

Images
Using IE, Chrome, Firefox & Safari
drag and drop and image into the
Google Images Search box

Using Chrome or Firefox

Filter search results

Using the wrong filters ... !

Even more advanced

searching

Or you could just get lucky

Getting lucky!

Google Doodles

Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to
celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.
How did the idea for doodles originate?
In 1998, before the company was even incorporated, the concept of the doodle was born when Google
founders Larry and Sergey played with the corporate logo to indicate their attendance at the
Burning Man festivalin the Nevada desert. They placed a stick figure drawing behind the 2nd "o" in the word,
Google, and the revised logo was intended as a comical message to Google users that the founders were
"out of office.". While the first doodle was relatively simple, the idea of decorating the company logo to
celebrate notable events was born.
Two years later in 2000, Larry and Sergey asked current webmaster Dennis Hwang, an intern at the time, to
produce a doodle for Bastille Day. It was so well received by our users that Dennis was appointed Google's
chief doodler and doodles started showing up more and more regularly on the Google homepage. In the
beginning, the doodles mostly celebrated familiar holidays; nowadays, they highlight a wide array of events
and anniversaries from theBirthday of John James Audubonto theIce Cream Sundae.
Over time, the demand for doodles has risen in the U.S. and internationally. Creating doodles is now the
responsibility of a team of talented illlustrators (we call them doodlers) and engineers. For them, creating
doodles has become a group effort to enliven the Google homepage and bring smiles to the faces of Google
users around the world.
How many doodles has Google done over the years?
The team has created over 2000 doodles for our homepages around the world.
Who chooses what doodles will be created and how do you decide which events will receive
doodles?
A group of Googlers get together regularly to brainstorm and decide which events will be celebrated with a
doodle. The ideas for the doodles come from numerous sources including Googlers and Google users. The
doodle selection process aims to celebrate interesting events and anniversaries that reflect Google's
personality and love for innovation.
Who designs the doodles?
There is a team of illustrators (we call them doodlers) and engineers that are behind each and every doodle
you see.
How can Google users/the public submit ideas for doodles?

www.google.com/trends/?geo=GB