WEB AIM Search Engines

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WEB AIM Search Engines
A search engine is a website which offers users the ability to find Internet resources, this information may be compiled from more than one set of assets. The term "search engine" is often used generically to describe both actual search engines and directories. They are not the same. There are many types of search engine, although all search engines use data from one or more of the following ways:
Spiders &/or Crawlers
Search Engine Robots (automated indexation tools) constantly visit web sites on the Internet in order to create catalogues or indices of web pages. Because they crawl through site after site, the computerised engines are also known as "spiders" or "crawlers".
Once a search engine knows about a site because its owner notified the search engine (also known as "submitting" or "registering" the site) it will go and crawl the site. The computer program called a "spider" or "crawler" visits the web page, reads it, and then follows links to other pages within the site.

Next, all of the information found by the spider, essentially a copy of every web page, is placed in an index or catalogue. There may be a delay between the time a site is crawled and when it is indexed, and made available to those searching the search engine.
Finally, the search engine software programme sorts through the information stored in the index to find matches to a search submitted by a searcher and then ranks the sites found in order of perceived "relevancy".

The spider returns to the Women Resources site on a scheduled basis to look for changes. If a web page changes, then the information in the index is updated. The search engine software will find those changes and change it's ranking of your site.
Compiled Directories
Directories such as Yahoo! and DMOZ (Open Directory Project) have a team of site auditors who look at the sites submitted, evaluate what they see and rank the sites based upon their review. This model looks to be dated as Yahoo! struggle to keep up with listing requests. They are already taking searches from Google and have recently announced a paid for submission option to enable you to jump the queue).
Directories are different. When you submit your site to a directory, you suggest the category or categories in which it best fits, together with a brief description of the site. When the directory auditors get around to it, they review the site and the description, and first decide whether it will be listed at all, and if so, in what category. You may suggest, but they decide. Because of the human role, directories often provide more accurate listings than search engines. On the other hand, because search engines such as Alta Vista crawl the entire site, the listings for search engines may be more complete.
When you change your site, the only way your directory listing may change is if a reviewer once again goes to visit the site. As busy as they are, with weeks of backlogs to review new submissions, I wish you the best of luck. A site that has previously received a good ranking, however, may be more likely to be re-reviewed than a poor one.
Meta Search Engines
Some search engines may neither spider or place your URL into a directory at all. In fact the majority of so called search engines make up this category. They provide search results from one or more other search engines. Many famous "search engines" are in fact using this method e.g. AOL, MSN, FreeServe, which is why, in many cases; you can't directly add a listing to these engines. Some may perhaps allow you to add a directory listing only and serve up two types of results, for example, Yahoo! gives directory listings from its own directory and also search results from the Google Spider.
It is also a common practice to combine multiple results from other engines to supplement advertising revenue from banners by using paid for search engine results from companies such as Overture.
True Meta search engines such as Ask Jeeves will provide search results from perhaps 6 other search engines.

See also Awesome Email Marketing