Think of a search engine as an index that enables you to seek out specific words and phrases. With the search engine's help, you can locate individual appearances of such words in documents all over the Web.
are another variation and are normally structured in a hierarchical manner by topics and sub-topics, etc. Just think of a Web directory as a subject catalogue, something like the subject catalogue in your local library.
One of the best known of this type is Yahoo! (Yahoo has both search engine and directory capability) It is important to note that directories such as Yahoo! Do NOT USE KEYWORDS for searching in the normal sense. If you are looking for information on the Web that fits neatly into an subject or category, go first to Yahoo or one of the other Web directories.
Here are links to popular search engines, feel free to explore them and see how you like them!
What Are They, and How Are they Used?
are Databases on the Internet that compiles information submitted to them, or gathered automatically using automated "robots" and "spiders". They generally use automated software to "index" the contents of a webpage, to varying degrees, and then freely make their services available to "search" for a given topic or webpage using "key words", phrases and search "parameters". They make their selling premium services and banner advertising to users.
Search engine research was done using these sites: www.monash.com/spidap2.html and cnet.com. Special thanks to these web sites for the information they provided.