How Do Search Engines Work?

How do the search engines? How do Google, Yahoo work? Dozens of search engines are available on the Web. Each search engine gathers information a little differently. Some engines scan the entire web page; others focus on the page title; some analyze the references from one web page to another, others read keywords and information included in meta tags (tags that include keywords about the page) on the web page. These different methods are the reason you can get different results from different search engines. Popular search engines include Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo.

Most search engines go beyond just searching for web pages. Some search engines allow you to search for information from Usenet newsgroups or for specific types of information, such as pictures or sound files.

Although the way each search engine gathers information is unique, all search engines share a common propose - to help you find the info you are looking for.

Search Result Rankings

How does a search engine determine which query results to list first? Search engines have formulas they use to page they index, their ranking methods consider the number of times a word appears on the page, the word's position on the page (words near the top of a page give it a higher ranking), and whether the word is included in the page's title or meta tags. They may also consider backlinks- the pages back to a site--and how popular a page has been with previous searchers.
Top rankings, though, are frequently available to the highest bidder. Other than Google, most search engine results show sponsored sites-web pages of organizations that paid for a high ranking ahead of other pages. Some search engines do disclose that these sponsored pages bought their way to the top of the rank by referring to them as sponsor matches but others neglect to acknowledge the profit motive behind their rankings.