Ask Jeeves Kids is a kid friendly search engine that allows students (and parents or teachers) to search by asking questions. The search engine helps the user narrow the search by asking related questions to see which one is really the one to be answered. I’ve never seen a search engine that provides drop down menus with additional choices! On the home page there are also links for “study help” in a variety of academic subjects and other areas.

Fact Monster is a kid friendly search engine that allows students to search on a variety of academic topics. There are also links to an almanac, dictionary, thesaurus, and atlas. There are many options on this home page and it may be a little too busy for younger users. It is broken into sections, however which does help the eyes focus and there are graphics in addition to words for the categories. The search results tell where the information comes from with each link and are divided into pages so the user isn’t looking at so many links at a time. This is comforting!

The Music Finder is a search engine to find artists and music that the searcher enjoys. It allows the searcher to list music s/he already enjoys and it suggests music based on that information. In addition, the searcher is able to modify the search by clicking one of three choices for each search result. By telling the engine that you know, don’t know, and like or don’t like the artist, the search is modified and clarified to find music to suite the searcher’s taste. To find music to suit your taste, this one is for you!

Google Image Search has a vast array of images available on the internet. When using this search engine, the searcher inputs a subject and an array of images arrive. When the searcher chooses one of the images, Google takes the searcher to the original document where the image was found. This allows the user to read about the image in its original context and find other images from the same article, which may be relevant. This search engine is simple to use.

Google News Search reigns supreme in this category as well. With a user-friendly format and without flashy extras, this site is as easy to use as its cousin, the image search. The user is able to search and obtain news stories from all over the world, in addition to the U.S. The home page can be personalized and is divided into subcategories such as news, world, U.S. and Business, within “Top Stories.”

DayPop is another good news search engine. The home page is not very inviting, but it is practical. Basically, it consists of a search box. Once the user searches, the results are displayed ten at a time. A number at the top of the screen tells the user how many matches for the search were found. The results are extensive. The link to the page and a visible URL are provided for each search result.

Ask Jeeves is a general search engine to find just about anything. The home page allows the user to search local items (plumbers, restaurants), pictures, news, products, and more. There is also a link to Ask Jeeves Kids. The site is easy to use with many listings for various searches.

Yahoo is also very easy to use with countless search topics and results. It is a little bit more categorized than Ask Jeeves in that its home page includes more categories from which to choose. I could use the search topics to find something I did not know I even needed!

DealTime is such an easy to use shopping search engine! I was searching women’s swimsuits. It allows the user to search by price, style, fabric, store, and size. I was able to narrow a 500+ item search down to 15 items in no time at all! This search engine will allow the user to search books, office equipment, clothing, and much more. Once the user has obtained results, ratings for each store are also given.

Froogle by Google comes in a close second place. The home page allows the user to put in any search item without giving any suggestions or categories. There is a section with links to the most recent searches (and finds) using Froogle. It allows the user to search for clothing items by price, style, fabric, color, store, and size, etc, but does not tell how many items were found matching the criterion. Merchant rankings are also given.