Introduction to Search Engines

Search engines operate by storing and retrieving information about many webpages. This information is gathered by automated programs, called crawlers or spiders, which follow any link they encounter.

When an automated program arrives at a web page it analyzes the contents of that page to determine how it should be indexed. Next the automated program stores information about the web page in an index database. Googles stores part of each of the original web pages as well as information about the web pages. When a Google user searches for "cream cheese" the term "cream cheese" will be on the web pages listed in the search results.

When the search engine user enters  the phrase to be searched, called a query, the search engine checks it's index database and provides matching web pages.

Ideally, a search engine will provide relevant results. There may be millions of web pages that include the phrase being searched for, so the search engine ranks the results to provide the most relevant results first. Search engines operate on a combination of algorithmic calculation and human input. An algorithm is a method for solving a problem using a finite sequence of instructions. 

Search engines are usually commercial ventures supported by advertising revenue. Some allow advertisers to pay to have their listings ranked higher in search results. Others make money by running ads alongside the search engine results.

Today's Quote

 

"Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it but you may use it. You can't keep it but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back." - Anonymous

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Today's Joke

During a bitterly cold NY winter, NumberOneOnTheList.com's accountant left the snow-filled streets of New York City for a vacation in Florida. His wife was visiting her sister in Tennessee and their plan was for her to meet him in Miami the next day. When the man arrived in Florida and checked into their hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick email.

Unfortunately, when typing his wife's email address he missed one letter and the email went to an elderly woman whose husband had passed away the day before. When the grieving widow checked her email, she looked at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint.

Upon hearing this, the elderly woman's family rushed into the room. This is what they saw on the computer screen:

"Dearest Wife, Just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

"P.S. Sure is hot down here!"