The Internet, a couple of decades ago, onlyemerging in the most developed countries, is currently developing at a rapid pace, with nothing comparable. Every day the amount of information in it grows exponentially, representing dynamically variable data. Naturally, such a mass of information needs somehow to be controlled. It was for this purpose that search engines were introduced in due time. But at the moment to cope with all the amount of information that every minute comes to the Web, not a single search engine. Especially if you take into account the difference of search algorithms. After all, by asking the query in different search engines, even equivalent to each other by databases, the user can get completely different results. Therefore, it was necessary to improve existing systems. Using the aggregation of results, the most developed PCs implemented additional resources in their software - meta-search systems.
What does metasearch mean?
In the Internet environment a meta-list is usually calledA machine that can process the user's query and the results of the most common search engines. In other words, the interface of the program is no different from that of a conventional search engine. But when a specific request is given to it, it does not use its resources, but redirects the request to the leading search engines, and as a result, the user sees a combined list of results from the databases of various search engines. Moreover, for the convenience of using this type of search, all duplicate links are completely eliminated, which contributes to the improved results of data output.
Benefits
The most important advantage that can beboasting meta-search systems, is the ability for a short time without too much effort to obtain the results of various search engines without duplicating the links. Using just one program to structure information, you can get a wider range of results from different sources, without having to use a lot of leading listings.
Many users often face this type ofa problem that some rare information, documents or programs can be seen in one search engine and completely absent in the other. Thus, a person begins to use those where he, in fact, found rare information. And again, faced with a similar problem. Already another query the selected search engine does not find, but it is displayed in the old one, which previously did not meet expectations. It is this shortcoming that makes it possible to eliminate metasearch systems in real life, giving users the most balanced results.
disadvantages
All the disadvantages of metasearch follow from hisadvantages, being their logical continuation. There is no own index database in meta-search as such, therefore it is impossible to add URLs of own sites to it. The second, rather important minus is a rather meager list of syntactic possibilities, that is, it is quite difficult to form an expanded information search.
In general, up to twenty differentdata search systems, and, naturally, their advanced search options are different. Of course, at the moment there are already metasearch systems developed on the principle of a new school. They take into account all the differences between the MS itself, and, accordingly, the expanded search has more possibilities. But so far there are few such systems, so the question remains unresolved.
Varieties
Before we consider functionalthe possibilities of these systems, it is worth noting that there are differences in this type of search. The classical type, discussed above and based on the fact that the MS handles the indexes of other search engines, and then passes the information to the user, is considered the most common and claimed. But in view of the improvements and changes in such resources, there are also other varieties of metasearch systems.
One of the most common at the momentis the case in which the information about the results of the request is immersed in frames, and all the information is within the same meta page. It is worth noting that each frame in this case contains the original page of the search engine, which was chosen by the target. In some cases, a couple of pages are opened, depending on the number of PSs selected by the user.
Also popular is the “All in one search” option.That is, the user has opened a search form with which he can refer to an infinite number of different search systems. But, making a request, he can refer only to one selected. In other words, one search is one search engine. This is not as convenient as, for example, in the classic version.
The most common search engines meta
Among the systems of this kind the most popularThe classic platform was the Vivisimo metasearch system. She gained up to twelve million unique visitors in one month. But It is worth noting that popularity does not mean automatic confirmation of the quality and comfort of using the resource.
Old school
At the moment there are manyclassic meta search engines. They all have a long history of creation, advancement and existence. Practically each of these systems has the same principle of operation, therefore, it does not make sense to consider them separately.
Therefore, we present the classical metasearch systems, the list of which is as follows:
- http: //vv.dogpile.kom,
- http: //vv.metakravler.kom,
- http: //vv.searchch.kom,
- http: //vv.vivisimo.kom.
Also pay attention to IxQuick, MetaEureka, ZapMeta, WebCrawler and WindSeek.
Their main difference is the interface.Therefore, it is quite difficult to choose the best among them, because each user finds a resource depending on their own preferences. Only by trying to personally work with each of these systems, one can understand which of them satisfies all needs and meets expectations.
New school
Currently, meta-search systems are being created.of a completely different type, from the so-called “new school”. Their main difference from the classical ones is the use of clustering. Technically, its implementation occurs in different forms. This usually looks like automatic highlighting of keywords and phrases with information added to the cloud, indirectly related to the user's request. Already additional keys are displayed on the screen by which it is possible to refine the search, to make it more narrowly focused. In other words, metasearch bibliographic systems offer options that allow you to make the query more narrowly focused, thus narrowing the scope of information retrieval and helping the user to find the data he needs.
In addition, new generation systems allowmore clearly work out the results. In other words, they use the so-called search strategy, that is, if necessary, the user can independently set its parameters.
From new generation to metasearching systems include: Clusty, Kartoo, Mooter, Izito, WebClust and iBoogie.
All that search donors give issubject to ranking and analyzed by meta-search. This happens as soon as the system receives results, the whole process is automatic. The resource ranks all descriptions of the found data. Further, the analysis is repeated, the main criterion of which is the place in all components of the search output, and all the similar data found by the search engine in a particular and other PS are taken into account.
Search pages
In addition to full search engines, there are alsometastranits, they are often called "all in one." By their properties, they are very similar to PS, but still they are not. We have already reviewed many metasearch systems, examples of pages created in their similarity: iTools, AllSearches, AdClick.ru and Searchalot. Despite their inferiority as PS, many users still prefer to use these resources for searching. In fact, this is not surprising, since these pages have very similar functionality and implement the same features that are available, for example, in iBoogie.
conclusions
At the moment there are several hundredresources representing metasearch systems. The Internet is developing rapidly every year. As for the individual choice, it often depends on subjective factors, for example, a good range of colors or the presence of comfort when using the interface. It is worth noting that some meta-search engines were initially unsuccessfully created, their functionality was not able to improve the search, and in some cases even aggravated the process itself. In this connection, it is best for the user to independently select a suitable resource.
Naturally, Western search engines are largelyDomestic ahead, and many use them as a tool for searching. But it is impossible not to note the quality and convenience of using Rambler and Yandex. These meta-search engines do an excellent job with their work and help find optimal results even for complex and rare queries. I would also like to draw attention to Nigma.rf. She is the very first to appear on the Runet as an intellectual system for meta-searching. Also currently gaining popularity is a system for searching social networks called yoname.com.
In any case, search for information usingmetasearch systems are much more effective than the classic use of various PS. After all, they display much more results and cover a large database of information in the network. And taking into account how fast the amount of content on the Internet is growing, such systems will be very useful for normal work on the Web.
