Let’s begin with our Search Engine Notes. Here we will be discussing the basic introduction to the Platform, Its working & a few types of Search Engines.
A search engine is a piece of software that is designed and built to search for information on the world wide web.
The searched results are usually presented in a line of results, consisting of Title, description, URL and site links and other extensions, the results page is often referred to as search engine results pages (SERPs).
The SERP may consist of organic results and Ads both.
The results can be a mix of all types of content like, web pages, images, videos, infographics, articles, research papers and other types of files.
With reference to Google search engine ,In a SERP Max of 17 results can be displayed whereas min can be even zero. The number of results basically depends on the data that is available with that search engine.
The first well documented Search engine which searched for content files i.e, FTP files was a search engine named Archie which was introduced on 10th Sept 1990.
List of Search Engines:
| W3Catalog |
So why do people use Google Search engine?
Well we all know the answer, it’s because of the quality of the results that Google provides. During the year 2000, Google’s search engine gained more prominence among internet users. Google was able to do this because of the quality of results it was able to provide compared to other search engines.All this happened because of the innovation of new algorithm called Page rank. Invented by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Page Rank is an unique specially designed algorithm that ranks web pages based on the number links the webpages have and the relevance of those webpages, It also checks the quality of the link before displaying the results to the users.
So How does Google Decide the Ranking of the search results?
Well to understand this we need to first understand how a typical search engine works.
Step 1 – Crawling : This is a stage where the search engine discovers the content by the help of bots (also known as spiders, crawlers). Here at this stage each and every word, image, links, keywords, in the web page is crawled and if any new links are found that is also added in the list to crawl further. Crawling is a continuous process. The content on the web page is crawled in regular basis for best results and to avoid Black hat strategies.
Step 2 – Indexing : After the content is crawled it is analysed and stored in databases. Before storing the content it is SORTED depending on the keywords, relevance of the content, quality of the content and many other factors. The Index list will be regularly updated thanks to the continuous crawling process.
Step 3 – Algorithm Check/Ranking : The stage where data is fetched in response to a query(Search term by the user). This is where Google gets better from other search engines . Whenever a query is made, the search engine displays results that are most relevant to us. This is done by using various algorithms to “rank” the data retrieved. This is also where search results may vary from engine to engine. Different algorithms rank data differently, depending on so many factors.
There are over 200+ factors Google Search Engine considers before displaying the results on its SERP.
A search engine does all that to ensure that the results it displays is the one most relevant to you.
The ranking factors will differ depending on the type of device the user is using.
Ex : When a query is made in a search engine through a Desktop, the results displayed on SERP might not be the same results when the same query is made on a mobile device.
Different types of Search Engines
(Based on types of Results ) – Search Engines can be classified into 4 main categories
Primary Search Engine Notes
A primary search engine is the type you think of most often when search engines come to mind. Some index most or all sites on the Web. For example, Yahoo! Google, and MSN are primary (also called major) search engines. Each primary search engine differs slightly from the others.
Most primary search engines are also more than just search. Additional features such as e-mail, mapping, news, and different types of entertainment applications are also available from most of the primary search engines.
Secondary Search Engine Notes
Secondary search engines target at smaller, more specific audiences. They are basically the topical and regional search engines that can provide a user tremendously narrow and focused search results when looking for specific information. Ex : Lycos, LookSmart, Miva, Ask.com, and Espotting
Human Powered Search Engine Notes
The goal is to provide users with a limited number of relevant results, as opposed to primary and secondary search engines that often return a large number of results that may or may not be relevant.
The reason they are know as Human powered is because most of these human powered search engines undergo a process of NAP (Name, Address, Phone number ) verification. This is done to avoid fake results from being listed in these search engines. Examples of human search engines include ApexKB, ChaCha, Mahalo.com, justdial, indiamart.
Special Purpose Search Engines
Unlike general-purpose search engines, specialized search engines index pages for particular topics only and very often there are many pages that cannot be found in general-purpose search engines but only in specialized ones. There are many specialized search engines for every imaginable topic and it is always wise to be aware of the specialized search engines for your niche. Ex : Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, indeed, Naukri.
Hope this Search Engine Notes has helped you understand how these platforms work and makes our life easier everyday. Read more and understand Digital Marketing and its needs.
