Effective Searching

There are so many search engines on the Web – how do you know which one to choose? Really, you need just a few. Pick them out, learn their features – read the help files! These are my favorite search engines and some of their distinctive features. Bookmark this page for effective searching!

Google | Alta Vista | Ixquick | Northern Light | Hotbot Dogpile

Search Engine	Features	Help File
Google (Advanced Search) top	+ - "..." language, domain, link lucky button goes straight to the first hit high relevance	Help
Alta Vista (text only) Search in top	+ - "…" * fields, language	Help
Ixquick Metasearch top	Meta-search engine. Ranks hits. Eliminates duplicates. Phrases, wildcards, "+", "-", NEAR	Help
Northern Light top	and, or, not + - "…" * % folders	Help
Hotbot look for return Image MP3 Video Shockwave Copyright © 1994-99 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved. top	and, or, not * + - "…" language, date, fields	Help
Dogpile Dogpile Searches: The Web: LookSmart, Goto.com, Thunderstone, Yahoo, Dogpile Open Directory, Mining Co., Webcrawler, Lycos' A2Z, Excite Guide, What U Seek, Magellan, Lycos, InfoSeek, Excite & AltaVista. Usenet: Reference, Dejanews, AltaVista and Dejanews' old Database. FTP: FAST FTP Search. Other NewsWires: Yahoo News Headlines, Excite News and Infoseek NewsWires. BizNews: Search for Business News from various sources. Stock Quotes: Enter Tickers or Company Name. Weather: Enter City, State or Enter Zipcode Yellow Pages: Enter Business Name, City State White Pages: Enter First Name Last Name, City State Maps: Enter Street Address, City State For Weather, Yellow Pages, White Pages and Maps, placement of the comma is important. top

Google | Alta Vista | Ixquick | Northern Light | Hotbot Dogpile