The Internet, which was only emerging in the most developed countries a couple of decades ago, is currently developing at a rapid pace, incomparable to anything. Every day, the amount of information in it is growing exponentially, representing dynamically variable data. Naturally, such a mass of information needs to be controlled somehow. It was for this purpose that search engines were introduced at one time. But at the moment, not a single search engine is capable of coping with the entire amount of information that enters the Web every minute. Especially if you take into account the difference in search algorithms. Indeed, by asking a query in different search engines, even equivalent to each other in terms of databases, the user can get completely different results. Therefore, existing systems had to be improved. Using the aggregation of results, the most advanced PSs have implemented additional resources in their software - metasearch engines.
What does metasearch mean
In the Internet environment, a metasearch is a machine that can process a user's query and the results of the most common search engines. In other words, the interfaceprogram is no different from that of a conventional search engine. But when a certain query is given to it, it does not use its own resources, but redirects the query to the leading search engines, and as a result, the user sees a combined list of results from the databases of various search engines. At the same time, for the convenience of using this type of search, all duplicate links are completely eliminated, which contributes to improved results of data issuance.
Benefits
The most important advantage that metasearch engines can boast of is the ability to quickly and effortlessly get results from various search engines without duplicating links. Using just one program to structure information, you can get a wider range of results from different sources, without the need for multiple master listings.
Many users often face such a problem that some rare information, documents or programs can be visible in one search engine and completely absent in another. Thus, a person begins to use where he, in fact, found rare information. And again faced with a similar problem. The selected search engine does not find another query, but it is displayed in the old one, which previously did not live up to expectations. It is this shortcoming that metasearch engines can eliminate in real life, giving users the most balanced results.
Flaws
All the disadvantages of metasearch stem from itsadvantages, being their logical continuation. There is no own index base in metasearch as such, so adding the URL of your own sites to it is also impossible. The second, rather important disadvantage is a rather meager list of syntactic possibilities, that is, it is rather difficult to form an advanced information search.
In general, up to twenty different data retrieval systems are used, and, of course, their advanced search options are different from each other. Of course, at the moment, metasearch engines are already appearing, developed according to the principle of the new school. They take into account all the differences between the PSs themselves, and, accordingly, advanced search has more options. But so far there are few such systems, so the issue remains unresolved.
Varieties
Before looking further into the functionality of these systems, it is worth noting that there are differences in this type of search. The classic type discussed above and based on the fact that the PS processes the indexes of other search engines, and then transmits information to the user, is considered the most common and in demand. But with improvements and changes to these resources, there are also other varieties of metasearch engines.
One of the most common at the moment is the case in which information about the results of the query is immersed in frames, and all the information is within the same metapage. It should be noted that each frame in a givencase contains the original page of the search engine that was chosen as the target. In some cases, a couple of pages open, depending on the number of PS selected by the user.
Also popular is the "All in one search" option. That is, the user has a search form open, with which he can refer to an unlimited number of different search engines. But when making a request, he can refer to only one chosen one. In other words, one search - one search engine. This is not as convenient as, for example, in the classic version.
The most common meta search engines
Among systems of this kind, the most popular classical platform was the Vivisimo metasearch engine. She gained up to twelve million unique visitors in one month. But it is worth noting that popularity does not automatically confirm the quality and comfort of using the resource.
Old school
At the moment, there are many classic metasearch engines. All of them have a long history of creation, promotion and existence. Almost each of these systems has the same principle of operation, so it makes no sense to consider them separately.
Therefore, imagine the classic metasearch engines, the list of which looks like this:
- https://www.dogpile.com,
- https://www.metacrawler.com,
- https://www.search.com,
- https://www.vivissimo.com.
You should also check out IxQuick, MetaEureka, ZapMeta, WebCrawler and WindSeek.
Their main difference is the interface. Therefore, it is quite difficult to choose the best among them, because each user finds a resource depending on their own preferences. Only by trying personally to work with each of these systems, you can understand which of them satisfies all needs and meets expectations.
New School
At the moment, metasearch systems of a completely different type are being created, from the so-called "new school". Their main difference from the classical ones is the use of clustering. Technically, its implementation occurs in different forms. This usually looks like automatic highlighting of keywords and phrases with information added in the cloud that is indirectly related to the user's request. Additional keys are already displayed on the screen, by which you can refine the search, make it more narrowly focused. In other words, metasearch bibliographic systems offer options that allow you to make a query more narrowly focused, thereby narrowing the search for information and helping the user find the data they need.
Besides, new generation systems allow to work out the results more clearly. In other words, they use the so-called search strategy, i.e., if necessary, the user can independently set its parameters.
New generation metasearch engines include: Clusty, Kartoo, Mooter, Izito, WebClust and iBoogie.
Everything that is issuedsearch donors is the subject of ranking and is analyzed by metasearch. This happens immediately, as soon as the system receives the results, the whole process is automatic. The resource ranks all descriptions of the found data. Then a reanalysis takes place, the main criterion of which is the place in all components of the search results, and all similar data found by the search engine in a particular and other PS are taken into account.
Search pages
In addition to full-fledged search engines, there are also metapages, they are often called "all in one". In their properties, they are very similar to PS, but still they are not. Previously, we have already considered many metasearch engines, examples of pages created on their likeness: iTools, AllSearches, AdClick.ru and Searchalot. Despite their inferiority as a PS, many users still prefer to use these resources for searching. In fact, this is not surprising, since these pages have very similar functionality and implement the same features that are available, for example, in iBoogie.
Conclusions
At the moment, there are several hundred resources that are metasearch engines. The Internet is developing rapidly every year. As for the individual choice, it often depends on subjective factors, for example, a good range of colors or the presence of comfort in using the interface. It is worth noting that some metasearch engines are initially unsuccessfully created, their functionality is not able to improve the search, and in some cases even aggravate the process itself. In connection with whatit is best for the user to choose a suitable resource for himself.
Naturally, Western search engines are ahead of domestic ones in many ways, and many use them as a search tool. But it is impossible not to note the quality and ease of use of Rambler and Yandex. These metasearch engines do a great job and help you find the best results even for complex and rare queries. I would also like to pay attention to Nigma.rf. It was the very first to appear on the Runet as an intelligent system for metasearch. Also currently gaining popularity is a system for searching social networks called yoname.com.
In any case, the search for information using metasearch engines is much more efficient than the classic use of various PS. After all, they display a lot more results and cover a large database of information on the web. And given how quickly the amount of content on the Internet is growing, such systems will be very useful for normal work on the Web.
