Now let’s look at Search Engines. To be able to find information on the internet you need to know where it is located. Individual websites all carry a unique reference number known as an Internet Protocol address (IP address). For example, the IP address of one of the BBC’s computers is 38.160.150.31. This IP address can be translated into something more readable called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The URL for the BBC’s IP address is www.bbc.co.uk (where WWW stands for World Wide Web). The hundreds of bits of news and information held by the BBC each have their own URL prefixed by the BBC’s URL. Thus News would www.bbc.co.uk/news. The numbers and letters that follow the / sign after the BBC URL can be very complex indeed. Very often they consist of a number or unique reference representing the exact web page where the particular website holds its information. For example, the starting point for information on the BBC about the latest lockdown in Scotland can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55028035.
Of course if you know the exact URL of the site you want to visit it can be easier to find that on the internet by putting the address into your browser. But very often we want to find out about something but either do not know the exact web address or (more probably) we have a generic question. This is where Search Engines come into their own. A search engine is the start point for a query. It lets you type in what you are looking for and it then “goes off” and searches the internet for sites that might contain what you are seeking. The engine then displays (returns) a vast number of “hits” usually in order of the most relevance to your search. You can then click on one of these “hits” and the search engine will take you to the appropriate site. One search might find thousands of hits and the resultant list can go on for several pages. It is quite rare not to have any hits at all but you might have simply mistyped your search query and entered a unintelligible word. With Google there is a thing people try to do called "Google Whacking" where they try to find an obscure word or topic that defeats Google and returns NO hits. Have a go yourself!
There are quite literally hundreds of search engines globally. Many are generic and others are subject-specific. A comprehensive list of these engines can be found at this link http://www.thesearchenginelist.com/. However, if you ask most people they will tell you that they use Google. Google makes up for about 70% of the search engine market. NB. Google is NOT a browser but it DOES own CHROME which is a browser. You can, though, use Google with any browser.
An important point to make about search engines is that they get paid for finding web sites and presenting them to you in a list. If you “click” on a link and go to a website a fraction of a penny will go to the search engine and, if you consider that Google alone handles some 3.5Bn searches every day, those fractions soon add up. Not only this but some companies pay large sums of money to ensure that their sites appear as near to the top of the list of hits as possible. This is why you should always look out for the word Ad alongside the hit list which indicates a paid-for entry which is not necessarily the best answer.
Search engines also present you with their list of hits based on the popularity of particular web sites or the prominence of the topic in the latest news. If you are looking for obscure references and subjects it is often worthwhile going much further down the list of hits and seeing what is there. One other point to note about search engines concerns the choice of words you use to put into the search box. Many think that you need to write lengthy, full sentences to get an answer. Say, for example, that you need to find out about wiring a United Kingdom plug. There is no need to write “Please tell me how I can wire a United Kingdom plug”. Simply typing “wire uk plug” will get the same answers. Note also that you don’t need capital letters in a Google search.
Of course if you know the exact URL of the site you want to visit it can be easier to find that on the internet by putting the address into your browser. But very often we want to find out about something but either do not know the exact web address or (more probably) we have a generic question. This is where Search Engines come into their own. A search engine is the start point for a query. It lets you type in what you are looking for and it then “goes off” and searches the internet for sites that might contain what you are seeking. The engine then displays (returns) a vast number of “hits” usually in order of the most relevance to your search. You can then click on one of these “hits” and the search engine will take you to the appropriate site. One search might find thousands of hits and the resultant list can go on for several pages. It is quite rare not to have any hits at all but you might have simply mistyped your search query and entered a unintelligible word. With Google there is a thing people try to do called "Google Whacking" where they try to find an obscure word or topic that defeats Google and returns NO hits. Have a go yourself!
There are quite literally hundreds of search engines globally. Many are generic and others are subject-specific. A comprehensive list of these engines can be found at this link http://www.thesearchenginelist.com/. However, if you ask most people they will tell you that they use Google. Google makes up for about 70% of the search engine market. NB. Google is NOT a browser but it DOES own CHROME which is a browser. You can, though, use Google with any browser.
An important point to make about search engines is that they get paid for finding web sites and presenting them to you in a list. If you “click” on a link and go to a website a fraction of a penny will go to the search engine and, if you consider that Google alone handles some 3.5Bn searches every day, those fractions soon add up. Not only this but some companies pay large sums of money to ensure that their sites appear as near to the top of the list of hits as possible. This is why you should always look out for the word Ad alongside the hit list which indicates a paid-for entry which is not necessarily the best answer.
Search engines also present you with their list of hits based on the popularity of particular web sites or the prominence of the topic in the latest news. If you are looking for obscure references and subjects it is often worthwhile going much further down the list of hits and seeing what is there. One other point to note about search engines concerns the choice of words you use to put into the search box. Many think that you need to write lengthy, full sentences to get an answer. Say, for example, that you need to find out about wiring a United Kingdom plug. There is no need to write “Please tell me how I can wire a United Kingdom plug”. Simply typing “wire uk plug” will get the same answers. Note also that you don’t need capital letters in a Google search.
