Susan Busche

SLM 521

Best Search Engines

 

Kid Safe Search Engines:

kids.net.au

This is my #1 kid safe search engine.  It combines school related topics with other categories that kids enjoy.  It has art and games, sports, and computers as well as a dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia.  Kids can also look up information about their favorite singers and actors as well as movies that are currently in theaters.  This search engine also has a special section for teens and teen life.  This is my #1 kids website because it is a good combination of school related material and general topics that all kids enjoy.  There is something for everyone.  

http://www.kids.net.au/

 

Ask Jeeves Kids

This is my second favorite search engine for kids.  It has a great news resource section but it mostly is school related subjects.  It is organized with a stack of books on one side listed on the books are study tools including a dictionary, a thesaurus, an almanac, and an atlas among other things. 

http://www.ajkids.com/

 

Travel Search Engines:

Orbitz:

Orbitz is my #1 travel search engine.  I have actually used this site to book travel plans.  The easy to use format of the website is what makes it a winner in my book.  The site helps find the best prices on airline flights.  The site can also book hotel rooms, rental cars, and cruises.  All of the quotes given from Orbitz include sales tax and surcharges so you are not scammed at the end paying more for these things.  All of these amenities that they offer can be paid for online. 

http://www.orbitz.com

 

Expedia:

Expedia is my second choice for travel search engines.  It is very similar to Orbitz but to me is not quite as easy to navigate.  It has many of the same options as Orbitz such as booking an airline flight, rental car, hotel, and even a cruise.  The site also has discounted package deals that can be booked through the site.  The prices that I have encountered when using this site are not quite as low as Orbitz so this is why it is my #2 choice for travel search engine.

http://www.expedia.com/

 

Shopping Search Engines:

Half.com by EBay:

This is my first choice for shopping search engines.  This website, powered by EBay, is a great place to find cheap books, movies, CD’s, video games, sporting goods, and even computers.  My experience with this search engine has always been very positive.  Unlike the traditional EBay items, you do not need to bid on items and wait to see if you win the auction.  The items are all just for regular sale.  It is possible to find new and used items on this site. You can also buy textbooks on half.com.  It is easy to register and easy to navigate. 

http://half.ebay.com/index.jsp

 

Amazon:

My second choice for shopping search engines is Amazon.com.  This site also has new and used items for sale.  The site is easy to navigate and find what you are looking for but the sellers on this site are not always reliable.  I have had experiences where my form of payment cannot be accepted by the seller therefore I cannot buy the item I am looking for, it can get frustrating. 

http://www.amazon.com/

 

General Search Engines:

Yahoo:

Yahoo is my favorite search engine.  It is my most frequently used search engine.  I have always received great results when searching with Yahoo.  Some of the other features of Yahoo are the yellow pages, being able to search for pictures, the weather, and feature news stories.  Yahoo finds the most relevant websites to what I am searching for and most of the time what I am looking for is the first site listed.  The way Yahoo ranks the results is great.

http://www.yahoo.com/

 

Dogpile:

I use Dogpile when completing searches as well.  Dogpile does not give as many results as Yahoo typically does, but the search is more refined and to the point, but there is a need to look through all of the results because there is not a very good ranking system.  There are not as many “extras” on Dogpile.  Some of them include the yellow and white pages, weather, and “Favorite Fetches”, some of the most common recent searches.  Still, this is a good search engine so I rank it as #2.

http://www.dogpile.com/

 

 

 

 

 

News Search Engines:

CNN:

CNN is my first choice when it comes to finding news online.  The layout of the material is very easy to read and navigate through.  Avid news readers can sign up for e-mailed news updates.  This site is updated continuously so the news is always up to date.  The stock quotes are always updating throughout the day as well.  This is the best search engine for finding news on the web.

http://www.cnn.com

www.cnn.com/

Google:

This is a great news site.  It contains over 4,500 news sources that are updated every day.  There are quick links to the top stories in many fields including world news, sports, science, and business.  It includes summaries of top news stories of the day so you can decide weather or not to read the entire article.  Google news is offered in many languages as well.

http://news.google.com

ttp://news.google.com