Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
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Search engines are the cornerstone of the web. Without them it would be almost
impossible to find even a tiny percentage of the huge amount of knowledge
and information now online.
Way back in "the olden days" when the web was young, there were just a tiny
handful of search engines and web-directories but now, if the spam I receive
in my mailbox each day is to be believed, there are quite literally
thousands of them.
But which ones are best?
Check Out The Aardvark PC-Based Digital
Entertainment Centre Project
Updated 2-Dec-2002
Whoa! Before you all email me to say that Google
is the undisputed king thanks to its huge database and better than average
ranking system, let me say this:
Google is good, very good.
However, Google isn't always best.
No, I'm not kidding.
If you religiously stick to Google, thinking you're finding everything there
is to find on a particular subject then you might be missing some useful
sites.
For all its thoroughness and cleverness, Google does miss quite a bit of stuff
on the web and there are a number of other smaller search engines that, thanks
to their different spidering and ranking systems, pick that stuff up.
Others I regularly use include Teoma.com,
WiseNut.com, and even good
old AltaVista.com (which
has just been sold -- see the headlines below).
Another technique of last resort that I've found to occasionally turn up
a gem of a result, is to search for pictures of whatever I'm trying to find.
Most search engines now have the ability to search for images and every now
and then they'll throw up a picture on a page that is otherwise unranked yet
contains information very relevant to your search query.
Okay, so I've had my say and expressed my preferences -- what are yours?
Are there other boutique search engines out there that you've found which
may not be as comprehensive as Google but which turn up results that "the king"
has ignored?
Share your findings with other
Aardvark readers.
Yes, You Can Donate
Although the very kind folks at iHug continue to generously sponsor the
publication of Aardvark, the bills still exceed the income by a fairly
significant amount. It is with this in mind therefore that I'm once
again soliciting donations from anyone who feels they're getting some
value from this daily column and news index. I've gone the PayPal
way of accepting donations because the time involved in processing a bunch
of little credit-card billings sometimes exceeds the monetary value they
represent. Just click on the button to donate whatever you can afford.
NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally donate twice
what you were intending :-)
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