The Internet, a couple of decades ago only emerging in the most developed countries, is currently developing at a rapid pace that is incomparable. Every day, the amount of information in it grows exponentially, representing dynamically variable data. Naturally, such a mass of information needs to be controlled somehow. For this purpose, search engines were introduced at one time . But at the moment, not a single search engine is able to cope with the entire amount of information that arrives on the Web every minute. Especially when you consider the difference in search algorithms. After all, by asking in different search engines, even equivalent to each other in the databases, the user can get completely different results. Therefore, it was necessary to improve existing systems. Using aggregation of results, the most developed search engines implemented additional resources in their software - meta-search systems.
What does metasearch mean?
In the Internet environment, meta-search is usually called a machine that can process a user’s request and the results of the most common search systems. In other words, the program interface is no different from that of a conventional search engine. But when she is given a specific query, she does not use her resources, but redirects the request to leading search engines, and as a result, the user sees a combined list of results from the databases of various search engines. At the same time, for the convenience of using this type of search, all duplicate links are completely eliminated, which contributes to improved results of data output.
Benefits
The most important advantage that metasearch engines can boast of is the ability to get the results of various search engines in a short time without unnecessary efforts without duplicating links. Using just one program to structure information, you can get a wider range of results from different sources, without the need for many leading listings.
Many users often encounter such a problem that some rare information, documents or programs may be visible in one search engine and completely absent in another. Thus, a person begins to use the one where he, in fact, found rare information. And again faced with a similar problem. The selected search engine does not find another request, but it is displayed in the old one, which previously did not live up to expectations. It is this shortcoming that allows us to eliminate meta-search systems in real life, giving users the most balanced results.
disadvantages
All the disadvantages of metasearch stem from its advantages, being their logical continuation. There is no own index base in the metasearch as such, therefore, adding the URL of your own sites to it is impossible. The second, rather important minus is a rather meager list of syntactic possibilities, that is, it is rather difficult to form an advanced search for information.
Up to twenty different data retrieval systems are mainly used, and, naturally, their options for advanced search are different. Of course, at the moment there are already meta-search systems developed on the principle of a new school. They take into account all the differences between the most PS, and, accordingly, the advanced search has more features. But so far there are few such systems, so the question remains unresolved.
Varieties
Before further considering the functionality of these systems, it is worth noting that there are differences in this type of search. The classical type, considered above and based on the fact that the PS processes the indexes of other search engines, and then transfers information to the user, is considered the most common and in demand. But taking into account improvements and changes in such resources, there are also other types of metasearch systems.
One of the most common at the moment is the case in which information about the results of a query is immersed in frames, and all the information is within the same meta page. It is worth noting that each frame in this case contains the original page of the search engine that was selected as the target. In some cases, a couple of pages are opened, depending on the number of user selected PSs.
The All-in-One Search option is also popular. That is, the user has an open search form, with which he can turn to an unlimited number of different search systems. But, making a request, he can refer to only one selected. In other words, one search - one search engine. This is not as convenient as, for example, in the classic version.
The most common meta search engines
Among the systems of this kind, the most popular classic platform was the Vivisimo metasearch engine. She gained up to twelve million unique visitors in one month. But it is worth noting that popularity does not mean automatic confirmation of the quality and comfort of use of a resource.
Old school
There are currently many classic metasearch engines. All of them have a long history of creation, advancement and existence. Almost each of these systems has the same principle of operation, so it does not make sense to consider them separately.
Therefore, we present classical metasearch systems, the list of which is as follows:
- http://www.dogpile.com,
- http://www.metacrawler.com,
- http://www.search.com,
- http://www.vivissimo.com.
Also worth paying attention to IxQuick, MetaEureka, ZapMeta, WebCrawler and WindSeek.
Their main difference is the interface. Therefore, choosing the best among them is quite difficult, because each user finds a resource depending on their own preferences. Only by trying to personally work with each of these systems, you can understand which one satisfies all the needs and meets expectations.
New school
At the moment, meta-search systems of a completely different type are being created, from the so-called “new school”. Their main difference from the classical ones is the use of clustering. Technically, its implementation takes place in various forms. Usually it looks like automatic highlighting of keywords and phrases with information added to the cloud that indirectly relates to the user's request. Already additional keys are displayed on the screen, by which you can refine the search, make it more narrowly targeted. In other words, meta-search bibliographic systems offer options to make the request more narrowly targeted, thereby narrowing the scope of the information search and helping the user find the data he needs.
In addition, the new generation systems allow us to more clearly work out the results. In other words, they use the so-called search strategy, i.e., if necessary, the user can independently set its parameters.
From a new generation, meta-search systems include: Clusty, Kartoo, Mooter, Izito, WebClust, and iBoogie.
Everything that search donors give out is subject to ranking and is analyzed by metasearch. This happens immediately, as soon as the system receives the results, the whole process is automatic. The resource ranks all descriptions of the data found. Next, a repeated analysis takes place, the main criterion of which is the place in all components of the search results, and all similar data found by the search engine in a specific and other substations are taken into account.
Search pages
In addition to full-fledged search engines, there are also meta pages, they are often called "all in one." In their properties, they are very similar to PS, but nevertheless they are not. Earlier, we already examined many meta-search engines, examples of pages created on their likeness: iTools, AllSearches, AdClick.ru and Searchalot. Despite their inferiority as a PS, many users still prefer to use these resources for searching. In fact, this is not surprising, since these pages have very similar functionality and implement the same features that are available, for example, in iBoogie.
conclusions
At the moment, there are several hundred resources representing metasearch systems. The Internet is growing rapidly every year. As for the individual choice, it often depends on subjective factors, for example, a successful gamut of colors or the presence of comfort in using the interface. It is worth noting that some meta-search engines were initially unsuccessfully created, their functionality is not able to improve the search, and in some cases even exacerbate the process itself. In this connection, it is best for the user to select the appropriate resource for himself.
Naturally, Western search engines are much ahead of domestic ones, and many use them as a search tool. But it is impossible not to note the quality and usability of Rambler and Yandex. These meta-search engines do their job well and help you find optimal results even for complex and rare queries. I also want to pay attention to Nigma.rf. She was the first to appear on the Internet as an intellectual system for metasearch. Also at the moment, a system for searching on social networks called yoname.com is gaining popularity.
In any case, the search for information using meta-search systems is much more effective than the classical use of various PSs. After all, they display much more results and cover a large database of information on the network. And given how fast the amount of content on the Internet is growing, such systems will be very useful for normal work on the Web.