Search Engines & Online Database

Today's topic is quite interesting compared to previous posts. We have been using it daily whether it’s at home, school or office. I'm sure most of you are familiar with search engines and online database but what are they really are?

Search engine is a web tool that allows users to enter keywords and search information on websites contained in its database. My favorite search engine is Google Search because it’s so easy to use and provide immediate feedback. Search Engines like Google or Yahoo uses software that collects data from the Web to include in its database. Every search engine has its own particular database. There are four parts of a search engine which are database is used to store references to Webpages, Web-Crawlers are for finding and compiling indexes of Web Page, user interface and Information Retrieval System.

What is database?

It defines as a storage where all indexed webpages are stored. Imagine database like a storage box where we keep our personal things. It covers only important information of a Webpage and this is the part where the user’s query is matched with database.

Web-Crawlers or Spider

Sometimes it is called bot or an automated program. The function of this “Spider” is to crawl all over the Web Page to collect information based on the keywords, titles, synonyms, access frequency and relevancy that are related to the query. For example, if I search for animals, the Web-Crawlers will explore everything that have relevancy with the subject. The information will be indexed and stored in database.

User Interface

It is a user friendly app/site/page where users may input query and search results are presented. In my opinion, a plain or simple layout that uses black and white font is the best user interface because it is clearer and easier.

Information Retrieval System

When we use search engine, the Information Retrieval System is used to match the user’s query to indexed webpages found in database. It is organized by steps and the results presented in rank according to relevance.

Specialized Search Engines

Do you know that there are specialized search engine for specific area or purpose? Every search engine has its own database that only stores Webpages relevant to a specific field such as Google Scholar, Education World, Art cyclopedia and Pipl.com. For example, Pipl.com is a specialized search engine to find out about people just by entering their names.

Meta Search Engine

It is known as a search engine that matches the user’s query to multiple search engines. Normally, this type of search engine is used among professionals such as the FBI to locate, track down or find out about certain things that are classified. There are three search engines used in in Meta Search Engine which are MetaCrawler, SavvySearch and Dogpile. According to techterms.com, it has stated that even though this strategy gives your search a broader scope than searching a single search engine, the results are not always better. This is because the meta search engine must use its own algorithm to choose the best results from multiple search engines. Often, the results returned by a meta search engine are not as relevant as those returned by a standard search engine.

Do you know that there are different parts of World Wide Web where websites have different access rights? Every part of Web has its own purpose and content, how awesome is that!

Surface Web is the first level of web category which only about 4% of internet is accessible by through search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo. We can look for general information for education, profession and etc just by searching only on the surface web.

Meanwhile Deep Web contains 90% of the information on the Internet but not accessible by Surface Web crawlers. It is not easy as the surface web to get the information because it needs to be applied with special tools and software and not to mention browsers and other protocol beyond direct links or credentials. Information such as academic information, medical records, legal documents scientific reports, subscription information can be searched by using Deep Web

Last but not least, Dark Web one of part in Web that is restricted to ordinary browsers we need some special tools to access the darker side of the web. The most well-known and most-used one out there is Tor, the short term of The Onion Router, which routes traffic to dark web sites through layers of encryption to allow for anonymity. Many files and data can be encrypted such as illegal information, political protests, drug trafficking sites, private communications.