Amanda Gierlach

May 29, 2006

SLM 521

The following is a list of search engines through which I reviewed and explored different topics. I have broken the search engines down into categories and then gave them rankings.

The best meta search engine I reviewed was Dogpile. This search engine finds results from numerous search engines such as Google, Yahoo search, MSN, and ask.com. The site allows you to adjust the filter rate on the topics being search. This can allow a person to obtain very specific results for a certain topic. Dogpile also provides a “best of” section from the different search engines used.

The second best meta search engine I reviewed was Vivisimo. This search engine also uses a variety of sites to compile a list of results on a certain topic. Vivisimo provided the results much faster than many of the other search engines. Another aspect I liked about this search engines is it allows you to preview the website before viewing. This feature can help on decreasing the time it takes a person to research a topic.

The best kid safe search engine I founds was Kidsclick. Kidsclick was developed by a group of librarians. The mission of the librarians was to provide a site where children could find age appropriate and useful information. Children can search through a variety of ways. They can use a large directory of categories, search by a certain letter, or just complete a general search.

Yahooligans was the second best kid safe search engine I viewed. Yahooligans covers a wide variety of areas that children might be interested in researching and viewing. Yahooligans, like Kidsclick, also provides a directory of topics a child could use when researching a topic. Yahooligans also provides help for teachers and parents that correlates with the information they are providing for the children.

The best news search engine I believe is Google News. Google news allows an individual to search and browse 4,500 news sources that are updated continuously. This site can be individualized so a person can view the news on the topics they feel are relevant without having to see all of the other news topics. Google news also provides categories for the different stories, which makes it easier for the viewer to find the information they are looking for.

The second best news search engine is Yahoo News . Like Google News, Yahoo News breaks the top news stories into categories. Within in each category, Yahoo News breaks the story down into different topics or categories. This allows a viewer to quickly find the story they are researching.

Froogle is the best shopping search engine I reviewed. When you search for a certain item on Froogle, you are provided with a large variety of that item. Froogle, when applicable, provides you with the ability to compare price of a certain object. This search engine also provides you with different ways of refining your search.

The second best shopping search engine is Bizrate. Bizrate does not allow you to compare prices of the same object. However, when you enter a search for a certain object, Bizrate provides a list of related categories on the side. I believe that this is a great tool because if a shopper is unable to find a specific object, they may be able to find something in the related categories.

The best travel search engine I found was Orbitz . Orbitz allows a person to search for a flight, hotel, car, or a combination of services. The organization of the site make it extremely easy for a person to navigate through the site. Orbitz provide a large variety of results for a person to choose from when attempting to set travel plans.

Travelocity was the second best travel search engine I found. Similar to Orbitz, Travelocity allows a person to search for a flight, hotel, car, or combination of services. Travelocity is set up very similar to Orbitz. The reason I have place it second it because I was not able to find as good of deals on this site as I did on Orbitz.