My Favorite …

Search Engines

Below is a list of some really great search engines of all different kinds. Am I the only one who had to look up the differences between search engines? Who knew there were so many?! Here’s what I found:

Meta-Search Engines: (from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/MetaSearch.html)

“In a meta-search engine, you submit keywords in its search box, and it transmits your search simultaneously to several individual search engines and their databases of web pages. Within a few seconds, you get back results from all the search engines queried. Meta-search engines do not own a database of Web pages; they send your search terms to the databases maintained by search engine companies.”

Well … excuse me!! With that said, here are my two favorite META-SEARCH ENGINES!

1.) Mamma MetaSearch – The Mother of All Search Engines (who can resist clicking on that one?!)

Mamma searches Web, News, Images, Yellow Pages, White Pages, on about 8 different general search engines. This makes your search so much simpler, because you don’t have to do all the searching on each of these pages individually. Mamma also has a French translation (just in case you live in Canada and want to search that way … or maybe you are French … or maybe you just like to speak French … whatever … it’s there!) http://www.mamma.com

2.) Surfwax.com -- This is a great search page, because it helps you to narrow down your search. There are buttons “search,” “clear,” and “focus”; each of these help to tighten your search. And, this website tells you which general search engine it found each website on; with this feature, you can get an idea of which general search engines are best for certain topics. http://www.surfwax.com

Let’s move on to my favorite GENERAL SEARCH ENGINES!

1.) Google – This is one of (if not THE) largest general search engines on the web. This search engine is great because it searches fast and lists more than one website for your topic. With Google, you can always “search within your search” to narrow your ideas down and find what you’re looking for even faster! http://www.google.com

2.) Yahoo! – Do you Yahoo? It’s another one of those websites with a great name! Yahoo! is all-inclusive. Their homepage gives you tons of information, from finances, to shopping, to hot jobs, to movie reviews. You name it, Yahoo! has it! You can even get your very own FREE e-mail account from this website! YAHOO! http://www.yahoo.com

Wanna get outta here? The weather’s nice! Let’s take a look at some TRAVEL SEARCH ENGINES and see where we can go!

1.) EXPEDIA -- Don’t know where to start? Expedia is a GREAT place. It lists a bunch of travel options, from vacation destinations to corporate travel. And, you can get your plane flight, hotel room and rental car all in one shot! Expedia always lists the best deals first, and it’s a safe website that allows you to do all of your transactions on-line. It’s quick and easy to use. http://www.expedia.com

2.) HOTWIRE – I love this website! You can get last minute deals at GREAT prices. The only problem is that you have to be flexible. This website works mostly the same as Expedia, but it gives you deals for plane flights dirt-cheap!

What girl doesn’t like to shop? And what better way to do it than right on-line? Take a break from your work and have a little fun! Check out my favorite SHOPPING SEARCH ENGINES!

1.) Shopping.com – This website is a dream come true! Say you have a favorite brand of blue jeans (mine are Lucky Brand), so you go to shopping.com, type in “Lucky Brand jeans” and wahlah … the stores and websites that the jeans are sold in are listed AND the prices are waaaay cheaper (and you can compare right on-line without having to walk to different stores)! Woo hoo! This site even gives you a list of additional sources … other places I can find my, oh so favorite jeans!! http://www.shopping.com

2.) Yahoo! Shopping – You can’t beat Yahoo! Just like the regular Yahoo!, the shopping page gives you TONS of things to shop for … and gives you tons of ideas, too! You can search by bargains, brands or stores! http://shopping.yahoo.com/

Been spending time doing too much work? Need to know what’s going on in the world? Look no further … here are my favorite MEDIA SEARCH ENGINES!

1.) MSN.com – I love MSN. I use this page as my homepage. It has the latest breaking news from reputable news sources, and you can even personalize this to your own hometown and receive national and local news, as well as weather, sports and entertainment, all in one shot! http://www.msn.com

2.) CNN.com – If you’re really out of touch with the world, and you need the latest, news and weather, all you have to do is go to CNN’s web page. It gives you all the latest national and world news … as well as video clips. If you don’t feel like reading, you can listen. You can’t beat CNN … they’re one of the world’s news leaders. http://www.cnn.com