Search Engine Exercise

In the Subject Directory Exercise we found some sites about Alexander Graham Bell and the history of telecommunications. You might also have found an association for your own professional interest or hobby. Let us rerun our search at Google where we can be more specific in our query.

Search Google

Go to Google (www.google.com)

Google is hands-down the most popular search engine on the Web. According to Comscore, in July 2009 Google held 67.5% of the global search market; whereas Yahoo had 7.8% of searches, and Microsoft, 3%. Google is generally regarded as the primary search engine worldwide. It has reached this pinnacle of popularity partly through size - believed to be the largest - and the simple interface of a search box on the front page, and by now, habit. It has the reputation of being able to answer the search question on the first page - most of the time. It has many features to help the searcher. Our interest at this point is in basic search.

1. Enter the words alexander graham bell in the search space provided. Then click once on the Google Search button (or hit Enter / Return).

The search results shown here were true in September 2009. These can change from one day to the next. The results you get may not match exactly.

The Search: Google looks for pages in its database that have ALL your words. Pages with all the words in that order will get higher ranking. Other factors are important also - how many of your words appear, how often the words are used in the document, where they occur - in the title or first paragraph. At Google, the popularity of the page is especially important. How many other sites link to this one, and how important are those sites? The accumulated authority of a site matters too. The best known and most relevant pages will be listed first. It's no surprise that Wikipedia, the popular encyclopedia that involves thousands of contributors, comes up first.

The Results:

1. The top line will show the query terms -- alexander graham bell. On individual words, such as telephone, Google will provide a link to a definition from the Google Dictionary.

2. On the right side of the page are Sponsored Links, essentially advertisements for products that are somewhat related to Bell. Sites bid according to selected keywords for placement in this column.

3. Google shows the title and words in context. For some large sites, Google will show a breakdown to the major sections.

Often Google can propose other searches you can try based on what others have done. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see this. This section can often provide good leads for your next search.

Yahoo Search

Yahoo will also do Web search. Enter your query in the box on the main Yahoo page or use search.yahoo.com or search.yahoo.ca and select Web.

Redo the search for Alexander Graham Bell. How do the results compare to those from Google? Yahoo might offer suggestions for other search queries - if you don't see any, click on the little down arrow on the tab. Sometimes there are shortcuts to other Yahoo resources such as images or news. Yahoo will rank results differently than Google, putting less emphasis on links to pages and giving preference to sites that are listed in Yahoo's directory. But here too, Wikipedia secures top ranking.

Where to next?

Yahoo is actually a portal. Find out what this means in Portals and then spend more time at Yahoo.