SEO Guru

Google:
Right from the establishment in 1999, till date, Google is the most popular search engine on the net. Since its beta release, it has had phrase searching for NOT, it did not add an OR operation until Oct. 2000. In Dec. 2000, it added title searching. In June 2000 it announced a database of over 560 million pages, which grew to 4 billion by February 2004. Its biggest strength is its size and scope. Google includes PDF, DOC, PS and many other file type indexing. It also has additional databases in the form of Google Groups, News, Directory, etc.

Yahoo!:
Yahoo! is one of the best known and most popular internet portals. Originally just a subject directory, now Yahoo! is a search engine, directory and portal. It includes cached copies of pages and also includes links to the Yahoo! directory. It supports full Boolean searching, but it lacks in providing some advanced search features such as truncation. It indexes the first 500KB of a web page and link searches require inclusion of http://

MSN:
MSN Search is the search engine for the MSN portal site. For years it had used databases from other vendors including Inktomi, LookSmart, and Direct Hit. As of February 1, 2005, it began using its own, unique database including separate News, Images, and Local databases along with links into Microsoft’s Encarta Encyclopedia content. Text ads are currently from Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions (formerly known as Overture). Its large and unique database, query building Search Builder and Boolean searching, cached copies of web pages including date cached and automatic local search options are its strengths. However, limited advanced features, inconsistent availability of truncation and no title search are its weaknesses.

Ask Jeeves / Teoma:
Debuting in spring 2001 and re-launching in April 2002, this new search engine has built its own database and offers some unique search features. It was bought by AskJeeves in September 2001. It lacks full Boolean and other advanced search features, but it has more recently expanded and improved its search capabilities and added an advanced search. While Teoma results can show up in three separate sections, there is only the one single database of indexed Web pages. It may also include paid ad results (from Google’s AdWords database) under the heading of ‘Sponsored Links.’ No additional databases or portal features are directly available. AskJeeves switched to Teoma instead of Direct Hit in January 2002 for the search engine results after its question and answer matches. Identifying Metasites and Refine feature to focus on web  communities are the strengths while a smaller database, no free URL submissions, no cached copies of pages are its weaknesses.

As the Internet started to grow and became an integral part of day-to-day work, it became almost impossible for a user to fetch the exact or relevant information from such a huge web. This is the main reason why ‘Search Engines’ were developed. Search en gines became so popular that now more than 80% of web-site visitors come from them. What exactly is a Search Engine? According to webopedia, a “Search Engine” is a program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found”.

For Example, if you want to know about the Automobile market in Canada, you will type keywords like automotive market, automobiles in Canada, automobile manufacturers in Canada etc… Once you click on the search button, you’ll get the best relevant data related to those keywords.

On the eve of Google’s initial public offering, new surveys and traffic data confirm that search engines have become an essential and popular way for people to find information online. A nationwide phone survey of 1,399 Internet users between May 14 and June 17 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows:

• 84% of internet users have used search engines. On any given day online, more than half of those using the Internet use search engines. More than two-thirds of Internet users say they use search engines at least a couple of times per week.
• The use of search engines usually ranks only second to email use as the most popular activity online. During periods when major news stories are breaking, the act of getting news online usually surpasses the use of search engines.
• There is a substantial payoff as search engines improve and people become more adept at using them. Some 87% of search engine users say they find the information they want most of the time when th ey use search engines.
• The convenience and effectiveness of the search experience solidifies its appeal. Some 44% say that most times they search they are looking for vital information they absolutely need. COM Score Networks tracking of Internet use shows that among the top 25 search engines:
  • Americans conducted 6.7 billion total searches in December.
  • 44% of those searches were done from home computers, 49% were done from work computers, and 7% were done at university-based computers.
  • The average Internet user performed 33 searches in June.
  • The average visit to a search engine resulted in 4.4 searches.he average visitor scrolled through 1.8 result pages during a typical search.
  • In June, the average user spent 41 minutes at search engine sites.
  • COM Score estimates that 40-45 percent of searches include 1sponsored results.
  • Approximately 7 percent of searches in March included a local modifier, such as city and state names, phone numbers or the words “map” or “directions.”
  • The percentage of searches that occurred through browser toolbars in June was 7%