Metasearch engines are powerful tools that search multiple search engines simultaneously. Unlike crawler-based search engines such as Google, AltaVista and others, meta search engines generally do not build and maintain their own web indexes. Instead, they use the indexes built by others, aggregating and often post-processing results in unique ways.
These multiple search engines are a commendable effort; however, there are several limitations to note when using Metasearch engines: Each search engine is subject to time outs when search processing takes too long; most only retrieve the top 10-50 hits from each search engine; and the total number of hits retrieved may be considerably less than found by doing a direct search on one of the search engines.
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Retrieves results in relevancy ranked order. It has a useful power search available with a template of search options. Has a "more like this" feature in its retrieved results which allows users to view other relevant works. Also has a rather good image search feature. Search engines include: Google, AllTheWeb, AskJeeves, About.com and Open Directory. Try a Metacrawler metasearch here: |
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Search.com is a meta search engine operated by CNET. It offers both web-wide search and a wide variety of specialty search options from CNet databases. Search engines include: Google, Altavista, Yahoo, AllTheWeb, Teoma, About.com, Hotbot and Lycos. Try a Search.com metasearch here: |
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Fast, comprehensive and relevant meta search engine that ranks results based on the number of "top 10" rankings a site receives from the various search engines. It can perform natural language or complex boolean searches, and translates search terms into each engine's preferred syntax Search engines include AlltheWeb, Ask Jeeves / Teoma, MSN, LookSmart, Go and Hotbot) Try an Ixquick metasearch here: |
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