MetaSearch Tools:
Below you will find a ranked list of metasearch tools which search multiple tools simultaneously. When metasearching, be aware that a metasearch is executed without taking advantage of specific designs and features of the individual search tools. The key to using metasearchers is finding the ones that eliminate duplicates and display in order of relevance rather than by specific search tools.
Ixquick is a comprehensive metasearcher that queries 14 search tools. Results are ranked by relevancy with information about which search tool the site came from. Ixquick allows keyword searches, natural language searches, and advanced boolean searches. Pages found in multiple engines are only listed once and ranked by relevancy. Ixquick also has a language feature to for searching non-English sites. Specialized searching includes images, news, and MP3.
Vivísimo organizes search results from other search tools into hierarchical clusters or groupings based on titles, URLs, and descriptions. The simple interface and organization of sites make Vivísimo simple to use for good results.
Surfwax has some nice features such as Focus Words that provides narrowing, broadening, or finding similar search terms. It allows sorting results by relevancy, alphabetical, or source--alphabetical is the default. The screen is split with one side having search results with no description and the other side having what are called SiteSnaps--somewhat of an abstract of the site including a description of the site fromt he author's metatag description, key issues or topics related to the page, and words called Focuswords that have been extracted from the document.
ProFusion is an ongoing project of the Data Discovery on the Information Highway project that searches Alta Vista, Yahoo, Lycos Excite, InfoSeek, WebCrawler, Magellan, and others. The interface is one of the most versatile of the MetaSearch tools allowing you to specify which tools to search and how to display retrieved items.
Dogpile does metasearches in Alta Vista, Yahoo, Lycos, Excite, WebCrawler, InfoSeek, HotBot, and others. Dogpile presents results from each of the search engines it queries individually, instead of mixing them all together into a single list. While some love this feature, others find it difficult and less useful.
Clusty is a search tools launched and owned by Vivisimo that employs
"clustering technology" or categorized folders to organize search
results. Clustering displays the main themes based on textual and linguistic
similarities to enable the searcher to focus on relevant groupings in
a search. The Clusty Toolbar is
available and allows you to highlight search terms, block popups, and
narrow searches to a specific site.
Go to
to Clusty Help.
Mamma offers simultaneous searching of the major search engines. Mamma analyzes a search, then sets the terms into the correct syntax and format for each search tool it probes. The results are organized into a uniform retrieval set based on relevancy and source.
Ithaki is a metasearch tool with an international focus that searchs 14 different languages.Web sites, news, music, books, images and more accessing results from the better search tools. Ithaki has an advanced search feature that allows you to search in specific categories and areas.
Meta search engine that uses Vivisimo's clustering technology plus provides
a traditional list of consolidated web results from various search engines.
Each listing clearly shows where it was found and how it ranked in the
originating search engine. The Quick Peek feature lets you preview the
page within your search results. Specialized and country-specific searches
are also available.
Beaucoup is a link to more than categorized 1400 sites. Find sites for Searching, Reference, Literature, Computers, Internet, Media, Education, and more. Also offers geographic specific sites to search for worldwide information.
Kartoo is a new generation metasearcher that displays results graphically on a map. The map clustering display in very different from the traditional text model and can provide an alternative mode of access to sites. Well worth a look.
Webcrawler is now a metasearcher that posts results from Google, Yahoo,
Alta Vista, AskJeeves, About, All the Web, and more. The site posts results
without duplications. The interface is clean and uncluttered. An advanced
search option is also available which allows boolean searching as
well as limiting by domain, language, last page update, and more. Webcrawler
was one of the first search engines started in 1994 by Brian Pinkerton.
The search tool was bought by Excite in 1996 and is now part of Infospace.
Go
to WebCrawler Help.
Query Server searches a query across a set of search engines including Yahoo, Northern Light, AltaVista, Lycos, HotBot, Excite, Infoseek, and others. What distinguishes Query server is that it clusters results conceptually under subject headings, and/or site headings.
Turbo10 is a London based metasearcher that specializes in deep Web content by connecting to both popular search tools and specialized databases. The results are not always as precise as desired, but they are grouped in clusters and are generally different than a list from popular search tools.
MetaCrawler was one of the first MetaSearchers and searches Open Text, Lycos, WebCrawler, InfoSeek, Excite, Inktomi, Yahoo, and Galaxy. MetaCrawler also has a useful list of Resources links. MetaCrawler also searches auctions, audio/MP3, image, domain name and origin, newsgroups and directories.
Search.com was the former SavvySearch, but it bears no resemblance to its predecessor. Search.com follows a fairly common interface that is simple to use with both a metasearch feature or a browsable directory. However, for anyone familiar with SavvySearch, the loss of the customization feature and the ability to access more than 100 different types of search tools from image directories to reference site in over 30 different languages makes this search tool pale in comparison.
Direct inquiries about this page to Dale Vidmar.