"What is a search engine?"

The first thing I did when starting this assignment was go to the all-knowing "Google" and type in the question, "What is a search engine?" I got 548,000,000 results in 0.52 seconds! Luckily, I hit gold with the third result listed. Whew!

The 10 Best Search Engines of 2014

The ten search engines listed by Paul Gil were as follows and in this order: 

1. Duck Duck Go (Catchy name! I think I'll check this one out!)

2. Ask (Been there, done that.)

3. Bing (Maybe)

4. Yippy (Again, catchy name. I think I'll check it out!)

5. Webopedia (Sorry, Webopedia. Your name isn't enticing enough.) 

6. Yahoo (Ah! Nostalgia! I should repay this one a visit just for old times' sake.) 

7. Dogpile (What? Ok. I'll check it out.)

8. The Internet Archive (The name is long, but the description sounds interesting.) 

9. Mahalo (I'm there!)

10. Google (Of course, it's listed.) 

I now have 6 search engines to research, as instructed. The winners are: 

1. Duck Duck Go

2. Yippy

3. Yahoo

4. Dogpile

5. The Internet Archive

6. Mahalo 

The results:

1. Duck Duck Go gets an A+! It's neat and simplistic. It kind of reminds me of Google, but without the messy, distracting ads. Duck Duck Go also allows you to search anonymously so that you can't be profiled by your searches. I really liked this one and might make it my new search engine! 

2. Yippy started out promising, but ended in disappointment. I liked the option of choosing which device you are using on the homepage, but when searching my own name, Chea Driver, none of the top 30 hits included me. This engine is known for being able to track down "obscure' content. I guess I'm not "obscure" enough to be listed in the top 30. I don't think I would use it again unless I couldn't find what I was looking for elsewhere. 

3. Yahoo, I remember why I moved on! As soon as you open the page, you are bombarded with tons of information which I find very distracting. It's a complete mess, but if you want to check your horoscope, it's the place to go! 

4. Dogpile was the, "fast and efficient choice before Google," according to Gil. He also gave it accolades for providing "cross link results." This engine would probably be most appealing to dog lovers with it's "Go Fetch" search button and cute doggie mascot. I did like the cross link results, but when trying to search my name in the "White Pages" section available on the homepage, I had to include my first and last name, city, and state before it would "Go Fetch." I found that a little irritating. In my opinion, this doggie needs to go back to obedience school. 

5. The Internet Archive sounded very interesting in the description given by Gil. "The Archive has been taking snapshots of the entire World Wide Web for years now, allowing you and me to travel back in time to see what a web page looked like in 1999, or what the news was like around Hurricane Katrina in 2005." The music and history lover in me instantly fell in love with this search engine. On the homepage, the "Live Music Archive" was especially pleasurable. I also liked the "Curator's Choice" feature. I see myself spending more time using this search engine in the future, but I'll probably mainly use it for pleasure. 

6. Mahalo was well organized. In his description, Gil said the site was, "human-powered." Anything with a human element to it in this digital age sounds appealing to me! The layout reminds me of Pinterest. I liked the "How To" feature on the homepage. There were many other options to choose from, but they were presented in an organized way that wasn't overwhelming to the user. When searching my name, the results automatically included videos and images. I liked that feature, as well. I'd be willing to try out this search engine for a while. 

* Wolfram Alpha Hmm.... What's this problem generator? This looks interesting! I love a good challenge! Ugh... Ok, I'll create an account if I must! Awesome! Math problems! 

I really like this search engine. The homepage is color customizable. Giving the user choices is nice and refreshing. There is so much to explore on this site, from the mobile apps to the resources and tools. This site is not for the novice user, but I think it would be worth the effort of familiarizing yourself with. It even has a feature to analyze your Facebook data! I'll definitely be back! 

Source: http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/navigatingthenet/tp/top_10_search_engines_for_beginners.htm