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A '''search engine''' retrieves information on the [[Internet]] for users.  Typically a user types in key words and the search engine will display a list of links containing those terms.  The search engine may list links based on [[algorithm]]s designed to give priority to relevancy, or popularity, or fees paid by sites to the search engine company.  Generally the methods used by search engines are proprietary and not completely known.

A '''search engine''' retrieves information on the [[Internet]] for users.  Typically a user types in key words and the search engine will display a list of links containing those terms.  The search engine may list links based on [[algorithm]]s designed to give priority to relevancy, or popularity, or fees paid by sites to the search engine company.  Generally the methods used by search engines are proprietary and not completely known.

[[AltaVista]] was a popular early search engine in 1995, but its slow speed caused it to lose out to [[Google]], which would retrieve information almost instantaneously based on presorted techniques.

 

[[AltaVista]] was a popular early search engine in 1995, but its slow speed caused it to lose out to [[Google]], which would retrieve information almost instantaneously based on presorted techniques. In the December 2008 Nielsen Online rankings, Google had over 62% of the search traffic on the Internet, and [[Yahoo!]] is a distant second. Google, Yahoo and AOL all showed good year-on-year growth, with [[Microsoft]]'s  MSN/Live Search being the biggest loser.<ref>http://searchenginewatch.com/3632382</ref> Other new search engines have been developed as well, such as Microsoft's [[Bing]] (the alternative to MSN/Live Search), and another [[web site]] called [[Duck Duck Go]]. Each search engines aims to compete against the more commonly used information retrieval sites, and in doing so, they each typically have their own unique driver or capability that others do not offer.  

In the December 2008 Nielsen Online rankings, Google had over 62% of the search [[traffic]] on the [[Internet]], and [[Yahoo!]] is a distant second. Google, Yahoo and AOL all showed good year-on-year growth, with [[Microsoft]]'s  MSN/Live Search being the biggest loser.<ref>http://searchenginewatch.com/3632382</ref> Other new search engines have been developed as well, such as Microsoft's [[Bing]], and another site called [[Duck Duck Go]], each with an aim to compete against the other larger, more well-known information retrieval sites.  

==References==

==References==

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[[category:Technology]]

[[category:Technology]]