META SEARCHING: THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY

META SEARCHING: THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY
First, a definition. Meta Search - A search tool that queries several search engines and/or web directories simultaneously and returning the results in a single merged list without the duplicate links.

Confused? Let me give you an example. Let's say there is a meta search engine you have recently found that searchs two engines, say Google and Yahoo. It searches both of these search engines and then returns the combined results to you, without any duplicates (results that appear on both engines). Sounds neat , huh? Well, there are pros and cons with meta searching that the user should be aware of in order to make his searching as productive as possible.



THE PROS
Meta searching is fast, and saves considerable time for the user since you may query several engines and directories simultaneously rather than typing in a single query in every search engine that you wish to get results. Webmasters will find meta searching extremely valuable in checking their site's page listings, backlinks, keyword ranking, etc. Any other profession that is research-oriented would also find meta searching a must-have.

THE CONS
Most, not all, meta searchers do not allow site submissions. This is because most do not maintain their own database of page listings. They simply get results from other search engines. Because most meta searchers query anywhere from 4 to 12 engines and directories simultaneously, and not all of them will allow Boolean searching, many meta searchers therefore will not allow Boolean searching. (Boolean seaching is the use of operators such as AND, OR, quotation marks, and plus/minus symbols.)

THE META SEARCH ENGINES
Meta search engines come in a variety of forms. The standard meta searcher simply queries several engines and returns the results on a single page. Others return results from each engine queried separately, either dividing them on a single page or opening multiple

browser windows, each containing the results from a different engine. And another type, generally known as all-in-one search, also allows you to query many different engines, but just one engine at a time.

STANDARD META SEARCHERS: OLD SCHOOL
These are some "oldies but goodies." These engines have been around for years and are quite popular.
http://www.dogpile.com/ - DogPile

http://www.mammma.com - Mamma

http://www.metacrawler.com - MetaCrawler

http://www.metasearch.com - MetaSearch

http://www.metaeureka.com - MetaEureka

http://www.multimeta.com - MultiMeta

http://www.search.com - Search.com

http://www.supercrawler.com - SuperCrawler

http://www.webcrawler.com - WebCrawler

http://www.vivissimo.com - Vivissimo

http://www.zapmeta.com - ZapMeta

STANDARD META SEARCHERS: NEW SCHOOL
Below you will find some excellent examples of newer meta search engines. Many include nifty features for advanced searching.
http://www.clusty.com/ - Clusty

http://www.ez2find.com - ez2find

http://www.huntitout.com - Hunt It Out

http://www.iboogie.com - IBoogie

http://www.intelibuzz.com - Intelibuzz

http://www.ithaki.net - Ithaki

http://www.ixquick.com - IxQuick

http://www.killerinfo.com - KillerInfo

http://www.myprowler.com - MyProwler

http://www.turbo10.com - Turbo10

http://www.webclust.com - WebClust

http://www.windseek.com - WindSeek

ALL-IN-ONE SEARCH PAGES
Below you will find some excellent examples of what I call all-in-one search pages.
http://www.allsearches.net/ - AllSearches

http://www.multi-search-engine.com - Multi-Search-Engine

http://www.queryster.com - Queryster

http://www.search22.com - Search22

http://www.searchalot.com - Searchalot

http://www.searchezee.com - SearchEzee

http://www.portprophecy.com - Port Prophecy