Best of Search Engines

I have tried many search engines for the following categories, and a few were difficult to find more than one search engines that I felt was worthy of being part of this listing. Hope my notes help you make a decision as to which search engine would best suit your needs.

General Search Engines:

I used these engines with the same topic: Running of the Bulls (Spain)

**Google: This has been a favorite of mine for a long time. It provided a wide variety of information with the target search words. It did not provide as many ‘hits’ as Yahoo; however, the ‘hits’ were of quality material. Whereas, Yahoo provided so many that sifting through the first page of results proved erroneous for the topic (Running of the Nudes - a protest before the festival). Google stayed on topic and provided information that was accurate and pertinent.

*LookSmart: Using Google the majority of the time, I found LookSmart a pleasant surprise. It also provided a wide variety of information. I gave some different ‘hits’ than Google which would prove helpful for research projects. One negative is that it didn’t actually give the number of ‘hits’, only the number of pages of hits (10 pages).

Shopping Search Engines:

I used these engines to search for: maternity clothes.

**Froogle: Froogle, a division of Google, provided a wide variety of products from numerous resources. However, many of the listings were for eBay so if a person wasn’t fond of the auction process of eBay, perhaps this shopping engine isn’t the one for them. I love the eBay experience and wasn’t bothered by the number of entries for the products on eBay. People just need to understand that eBay is like an Internet yard sale and sometimes things aren’t perfect or in the condition you would like.

*Dealtime: This was the first time I ever used this search engine and found it to be a great site. It provided a variety of products for both online stores/catalogs and in store. It also didn’t have any eBay listings so this may be a great choice for those looking for new products. I had a great time searching by store at this site. It convinced me that a trip to Target was needed.

(Note: I am also an advocate of shopping directly from the catalog/store that you like. Sometimes a ‘middle’ man slows the process. Case in point, I bought a Manheim Streamroller CD for my dad’s birthday two years ago through a ‘middle’ man. It took two months to straighten out that the ‘middle’ man was unreliable so the actual store - Tower Records - honored my purchase and sent the gift, two months too late. If you want something specific from a certain store, my advise is go directly to that website and deal directly with the merchant.)

Kid Safe Search Engines:

* Yahooligans: A division of Yahoo, this engine offered a nice variety of information for children. It did however also offer many adolescent type items such as Hollywood news.

* Parental Control on Google or other search engines: When using the parental controls for other search engines I found that I gained better results than Yahooligans. Perhaps it was the topic, but I would rather to the search for my children (under 6) and then add specific sites to their desktops. My older son knows how to double click on ‘E’ to gain Internet access. Then he will click on the ‘star’ for Favorites. From there he chooses from the sites we chose together: Noggin, Disney (set as his homepage), PBS Kids, Nick Jr., and other kindergarten educational game sites.

Travel Search Engines:

**Travelzoo: I recommend this site mostly for the ‘Top 20 Deals’ part. I found the deals reasonable and interesting. I found a wide variety of vacations and offers for around the globe. I also personally prefer a site that offers not only good deals but also vacations that cost a little more but are worth the money. Some other sites simply give the best price, not necessarily the best vacation.

*Travelocity: Despite the crazy gnome commercials we have all seen for this company, it really did prove to be a good search engine. I searched for Mexican Cancun trips. Travelocity offered a variety of prices and places depending on what you are looking for or willing to pay. I like having choices not just cheap deals.

Medical Search Engines:

**WebMD: I have used this site many times to find answers for simple questions. It offers articles from doctors and medical journals as well as general information from the CDC. I actually used this last summer when my son got sick and been in our storage area. I had found mice droppings and was concerned that he had gotten sick from the exposure. I found a vast wealth of information that I took to the doctors at the appointment. The one point that I would like to make know is that this site relies on medical journals and doctors, reputable sources in my opinion.

*Diagnose-Me: This site was lengthy and tedious, but did offer answers and treatments or information about tests to take to your doctor. If I had an illness or condition that was questionable, I would use this site to find answers.