Megapost: Search Engines

Today, these terms have been incorporated into our language without any problem, and in most cases, it is almost impossible to use another way of naming certain technologies. A case of this  is the search engines,  which although they do not have any gear or coil, use the word “motor” as a reference to give the idea of ​​movement,  even if it is a mathematical algorithm.

The search engine today is one of the most used Internet technologies, and without its services, the network of networks would be in total chaos. If you want to know more about search engines,  we recommend that you read the full article.

What are search engines?

Basically, an Internet search engine, which is also known as a “search engine” is a fundamental tool for the user, through a web browser , to  be able to find the information or website he is looking for within the intricate web which is the internet.

For this, the so-called “Keywords” are used, which are the keywords that we must enter into the search engine so that it returns us a list with the results  of the web pages that store information, including audio, video, images and text, of the topic we are looking for.

An Internet search engine works basically by  comparing the keywords or keywords that the user enters in the search box of the same, with a database where the addresses of the web pages that contain the keywords that the user requested in the search. The result of this is the list of websites in which topics related to the searched keywords are mentioned, and which is generally called  “Search results page”.

In order to obtain the information that will indicate to the user who does the search where to find what he or she needs,  Internet search engines use a very complex technology, but simple to understand.

What is a Web Spider?

The main element of this technology is the so-called “Crawler”, perhaps better known in Spanish as “Spider Web”. This is a small program developed with the purpose of  methodically analyzing WWW pages to make a copy of the pages you have visited,  to later be processed and indexed to be used by search engines.

The work of web spiders begins when they visit a website from a previously defined list. Once the site is accessed,  the spider identifies the links it contains and adds them to another list of URLs,  which it will visit later according to a series of previously defined parameters.

Simply put,  the spider web visits a site, downloads its links to a list, ends with the home page, and begins to download the links from the pages it has downloaded.  This is repeated on all pages that downloads and analyzes, the same as l ollowing visit through our web browser favorite.

In addition to spiders, two other important processes also enter the task, without which we could not have the results to which we are accustomed. After the work of the web spiders,  the work of a program in charge of creating the index or “catalog” begins  ,  that is, the list of pages that the spiders have visited.

Finally, one more program comes into action,  which is in charge of receiving the search request, comparing it with the entries in the index,  that is, those that the spiders collected, and finally returning it to the user in the form of a list by means of the mentioned  “Search results page”.

Is a search engine a search engine?

Simply put,  a search engine is the same as a search engine.  This differentiation exists due to the many idioms and ways of using the language that exist in Latin America, Spain and other countries where Spanish is used as a language.

What is the best search engine?

Although there are many search engines or search engines, as they better like to call them, the truth is all users have different preferences regarding the results they want to find on the Internet.

Also the reputation of the company behind the search engine regarding the privacy of our searches and the data we enter are one of the main reasons for choosing a search engine. Even when choosing one search engine over another, graphic aesthetics can be decisive.

However, most of us when we do not get results in other search engines, we turn to Google,  where we will surely find what we are looking for.

At this stage of the events, it is boring to submit the reader to the list of characteristics of the search engine and the other Google tools,  but it is undoubtedly the best Internet search engine that we have available. When all other search engines fail or are down,  Google search  will always be there to give us a hand.

Despite the price we have to pay to use it,  which in this case is not about money but about our personal information,  Google is the best Internet search engine with which we can work,  since it offers millions of results in just a few few milliseconds.

Search engine examples

Bing

Bing ranks second on the podium of Internet search engines. It is also the default search engine for the Edge browser in the latest versions of Windows. It is also a very fast search engine with excellent results. Perhaps the only one that can cope with the Google search engine.

Yahoo!

Besides being an Internet search engine, and one of the best too, Yahoo! it offers other very interesting features such as a webmail service,  an image storage system and much more.

All this makes it the ideal solution for  all those users who want to gather everything they need in a single service, with all the advantages and disadvantages that this entails .

Duck Duck Go

Undoubtedly one of the most important characteristics of this search engine  is that its results are not focused on the fact that the page is well positioned,  but rather that the user obtains the best possible result for their query.

Other advantages of Duck Duck Go is that we will not be tracked while doing our searches,  nor will we be overwhelmed with ads. The best alternative if we want accurate results to our searches.

The best image search engines on the web

From this point on we are going to get to know the best Internet image search engines, that is, those websites specialized in showing us results of images, much more specific without being users who work daily with many images.

While Google Images is one of the best image search engines, as we will see later in this article, the truth is that there are some more, on the same level or even better than the tool provided by the Mountain View giant.

The Internet is a gigantic bank of images. Everything is there, but with the condition of knowing how to search the Internet and having the appropriate tools to carry out our search. With a good search engine, we can thus find any type of image, from illustrations to accompany an exhibition or a work to the portrait of a celebrity or current affairs photos.

To search we have, as we mentioned, the Google images bank, already known to all navigators. But do not neglect other specialized image search engines, which have innovative search functions and filters, and also have an original presentation.

Not forgetting the meta search engines, which retrieve the images found by different search engines. Now, if you can find all the images you want, this does not mean that they are free of rights and that they can be used for any purpose. Only images under a “Creative Commons” license, reusable free of charge under certain conditions declared by the author, or those free of rights, are usable without restrictions.

From this point we show you the best image search engines that currently exist on the web.

Live Search Images: Intuitive and fast

With a nice interface, Microsoft’s image search engine is a good alternative. We can select the display size of the bullets and get information about the images just by hovering over them.

Filters, such as image size, proportions (height and width) or style (photo, drawing), are easily accessible and intuitive to use. For the character search, you can choose the photos that show only the face or the head and shoulder portraits. However, a filter such as Google Images is not proposed, which allows the search for current images.

Google Images: millions of results

Despite being so well known, you can’t stop naming it. Google Images, which indexes several billion photos on the Web, is efficient and fast, and it also has one of the most careful presentations.

Its filter system, found in the advanced search, allows you to search for any type of photos, including the possibility of filtering them by color, size and other variables. Without a doubt one of the most interesting tools to search for images on the Internet.

TinEye – Image Identification

The TinEye site uses image identification technology. After having created an account, the search engine helps the user to find a given image on the Web and to know where it is located.

From an image taken in your photo library or from a URL, TinEye retrieves, with more or less success, the sites that used the same photograph or its variants. It is useful, for example, to find it in a better resolution or to know the source from which an image comes. The Compare images option allows you to compare the starting image with one of the found images.

How to create our own search engine on the internet

It is possible to create a search engine that only considers the list of websites of your choice. It is undoubtedly a practical resource, which can be quite useful on certain occasions. For example, if you are looking for free, unregistered images to post on your website (and save yourself future problems) you can limit your search to a handful of websites that meet these requirements: that is, the disclosure of free images.

This preselection can save you endless searches to know whether or not you are authorized to publish such a photograph on your blog or your Facebook profile. This service also has the advantage of being able to search within a site that does not have a search engine. The only requirement to access this tool is to be a user of a Google account. Below we show you how to do it.

Configure the tool to create your own search engine

Step 1

With your browser, go to the Google Personalized Search site

Step 2

Click on ” Create a Custom Search Engine” to start the process.

Step 3

First, you must give a name to the tool you are going to create, for example: “My Photos”. In the Description box, you must specify the domain that your search engine will cover.

Step 4

You can then modify the search language. Then, you will have to choose a crucial option: do you want the search engine to focus its search only on the list of websites that you propose or will you design a site that searches for information throughout the network?

One caveat: the choice of one or the other option largely depends on the topic chosen for the search. You must bear in mind that the first option could make you lose valuable unpublished information published on a site that is not on your list.

Step 5

Have you made up your mind? If so, move on to site selection. Nothing easier. One key recommendation: make sure you are not copying the address of a page within a site rather than the full address of the site.

Step 6

Then just check the standard edit mode. In this case, the entire service is free (in exchange for the dissemination of advertising messages on the results pages, something that Internet users are already really used to).

Step 7

Check the box: “I have read and accept the conditions of use.” Click “Next” and try running a few queries on your new search engine or search engine. Needless to say, the quality of the responses depends on the quality of the list of sites you have included. Satisfied with the test? Check the box: Email confirmation.

How to fine-tune our own search engine

After having validated the creation of your search engine, you will access a page corresponding to the Control Panel. Click on the name of your tool, in our example “My photos”. The “Basic aspects” section allows you to modify the previously filled criteria. But if what you are interested in is modifying the list of sites, to add new ones or eliminate some proposed when creating the search engine, you must click on the “Advanced options” tab .

Search images on Google using images

The image search on Google is one of the actions that we may run more times in our daily work. It is simple, effective and it is extremely rare not to find results that fit our request. To the possibility of doing it through the keyboard and the voice, now it has also been added the opportunity to find results using images.

This extraordinary incorporation carried out by Google engineers opens the door to a new and fascinating way of interacting with the search engine, since it will allow us, not only that the system gives us results similar to that image, but also that we will be able to know exactly which is a certain object by introducing an image of it.

How the Google Image Search System Works

Google developers have tried this new technology so that it can be easy to use by users around the world, regardless of their computer skills.

To access this functionality, we will have to access Google Images, and click on the new camera icon on the search box.

Once we have clicked on said icon, we can select between two mechanisms: the image’s web address, or drag one from our computer, as long as we use Chrome or Firefox in their latest versions.

The best thing about this new system is that it offers us excellent results, although it depends on many factors such as the quality of the photograph or image that we are using for the search, but where we can obtain the best results is when we search for images with a shape and defined path.

Without a doubt, a new technological advance that shows that Google takes things very seriously, introducing useful tools and options that greatly improve the experience of using the Internet.