Search Engines Reviews

Best Search Engines Reviews: (out of 26)
SEO Resource Center, Information Today, UC Berkeley Library

Best Search Engines: (out of 26)
Google, Ask.com, Windows Live Search

Fast Answers - Best Search Engines

Top Rated	What the Research Says
• Google (free, http://www.google.com) >> Where to buy	Best search engine overall. Google remains the most popular search engine, the favorite among both users and reviews for its speed and ease of use. Expert reviews also give Google high scores for its disclosure practices, so it's easy to tell paid ads from real results. Google is also the leader in adding features like image search, video search and blog search; you can search inside books with Book Search. Interestingly, however, reviews say Google doesn't always have the most relevant search results for each search. Rather, reviews recommend you use Google in combination with one or more other search tools.
• Ask.com (free, http://www.ask.com) >> Where to buy	Best alternative to Google. Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves) earns distinction as the most improved search engine. Reviews say it is now much better at keeping ads distinct from search results, and that relevancy now matches (and sometimes exceeds) Google. Results include a helpful set of cross-referencing terms to help users refine searches, and Ask.com also searches blogs, online communities and social networks.
• Windows Live Search (free, http://www.live.com) >> Where to buy	Best new search engine. Reviews say new Windows Live Search is a big improvement over MSN Search. Windows Live Search is unique in that search results are presented on one long page, so that users scroll down the page -- no more clicking "next" to see more. Windows Live Search gets special praise for its image search because of the amount of customization offered. A slider bar controls the size of thumbnails, and you can choose a filmstrip view that presents a column of thumbnails with full-size images on the main screen.
• Jux2 (free, http://www.jux2.com/) >> Where to buy	Metasearch engine. Jux2 combines search results from Google, Yahoo and MSN so you can search all three at once. Reviews praise the way Jux2, unlike most metasearch engines, clearly identifies paid ads and sponsored listings. You can also separate the results from each search engine, and Advanced Search lets you see results from just one type of domain, such as .org or .edu.
• Yahoo! Desktop (free, http://www.yahoo.com) >> Where to buy	Best search engine, toolbar, desktop search combination. Yahoo! Desktop often gets top ranking in reviews, and Yahoo! usually comes in second for best search engine. So if you want one integrated product that covers all the bases, Yahoo! is a good choice. Yahoo! Desktop, when used with a free expansion kit, searches the most file types, and reviews praise the way it filters and previews results. The Yahoo! Toolbar includes anti-spyware and a pop-up blocker, two useful extras.
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Updated October 2006

Search engines can pick through millions of web pages in seconds, pulling out exactly the information you need -- at least, that's the goal. Though search engines are free of charge, companies continue to compete to provide the most relevant information and to present it in the most usable way. In addition to searching basic web pages, the best search engines offer image searches, video searching, blog searches and more. Search toolbars install right into your web browser, making Internet searches more convenient. For quick, efficient searching of your hard drive or network as well as the web, see our separate report on desktop search engines .

Earlier reviews of Internet search engines concentrated on features and ease of use. More recently, we find better reviews that actually rate Internet search engines on the relevance of their results. At Information Today, a professional information specialist compares Google with Ask.com, and in a Keynote Studies review, over 2,000 people compare five search engines. The most recent study from SEO Resource Center, based on tests during the second quarter of 2006, evaluates over 25,000 pages of search engine results for relevance.

Sometimes, results listings can appear to be relevant but actually be paid listings -- in other words, advertising. Consumer Reports WebWatch, sponsored by the same organization that publishes Consumer Reports, monitors search engines on how well they distinguish paid listings from the rest. However, their last report is dated June 2005, and some of the report's criticisms no longer apply. Ask Jeeves (now Ask.com), Netscape and Yahoo have improved markedly when it comes to advertising disclosure (though it's worth noting that Yahoo charges for inclusion in its separate web directory). However, AltaVista still uses small light gray type to distinguish sponsored listings from real results -- making it more difficult to tell the 'real' results from paid advertising.

So-called "metacrawlers" can also have trouble distinguishing paid ads from real search results. A metacrawler is a search aggregator -- it searches many other search sites, combining the results. But some metacrawlers end up grabbing both ads and real search results, mixing them together. Infospace is one of these metasearch engines, and reviews say it has this problem, mixing ads right in with real results, identifying ads only in tiny light gray type. Reference librarians and other information specialists continue to warn that metasearch engines are the worst offenders on this score.

Search engines offer search toolbars as free downloads. Most toolbars block pop-up ads and make searching more convenient. Unfortunately Amazon discontinued its oft-recommended A9 Toolbar, leaving the Google and Yahoo toolbars as the top contenders. Expert reviews say it's fine to install more than one search toolbar, and since information specialists recommend using more than one search engine for Internet research, this makes it more convenient. Search toolbars were news in 2004, when ZDNet and PC Magazine tested them, but Search Engine Watch reviewed them in 2005, and PC World has continued to pick the best search toolbar each year. Not all search toolbars are safe. Users at CNet's Download.com report malware and spyware lurking in Advance Searchbar 3.2.7. ... Continued

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Consensus Report

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of picks	Search Engine
8	Google
6	Yahoo!
6	Ask.com
4	MSN Toolbar
4	Clusty
3	Windows Live Search
2	Windows Live Toolbar
2	Google Toolbar
2	A9 Toolbar
2	Yahoo Toolbar
1 each	A9, Dogpile, Info.com, Jux2, MSN Search, Museseek, PreFound, Rollyo, Windows Live Toolbar

Google is the clear winner among Internet search engines, but Yahoo!, Ask.com and Clusty get plenty of recommendations. A9 and the new Windows Live Search offer the most customized layouts.

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