What Search Engine Do You Use?

First, I have to apologize to everyone for not posting in the past week. I have been swamped with work and school and have not had one free moment to get out a couple of posts. With that, I thought I would turn the tables on you guys and ask you all a very common question.

Being a computer repair specialist, I am often asked what search engine I use and why I think its the best. People think this is a straightforward question and answer but there are a lot of subtle nuances. You could compare this questions to: What is your favorite restaurant and why? Suprisingly, I get asked this question quite often too. For me, it depends on taste and how I'm feeling that day.

If you read most of my posts you'll find that I often speak about Google. Its hardly difficult these days to do anything on the net without somehow involving Google; I guess this means that business is good for Google (It should be with a stock valued at $419.33 as of June 30th). But just because Google is everywhere, doesn't necessarily mean that it translates into a great search engine. Now I'm sure that I'll get flamed for that statement and most people would be right in saying that Google is a great search. Heck, I use Google just about once every 5 minutes during the work day. Remember what they say about size, it isn't everything.

Google was great long before it became the corporate monster (800-ton Gorilla) it is today. Google was great because they innovated the search engine marketplace by bringing fresh ideas and making search more than just a bunch of keywords. Back in the day, Google was ahead of the game but as of late the likes of Yahoo, MSN, and even Ask! have caught up to the #1 competitor. Through hard work, these other search engines which were once at the top of the game have begun to reclaim leading positions in the search engine marketplace.

All of this put aside, answering the question, "What search engine do you think is best?" isn't so easy. Search engines are just like shoes, everyone has a particular style, size, and color that fits them. Search engines are very particular and often your results are only as good as your knowledge of how the engine works. At the heart of it, search engines are just another machine that doesn't comprehend human thoughts. It is in part the requirement of the user to process and filter what terms are vital to the search. Knowing how the search engine works will help you in selecting keywords to filter what you want from all of the other web junk.

Search engines are vital to the survival and further growth of the Internet because they act as the literal link between the user and the content provider. I like Google because they put priority on the search results, minimizing all of the other junk that competitors include on their results page. Google has done a great job of integrating advertisements into the search results while their competitors seem to be more interested in emphasizing the ads than the results; maybe this is because their search results aren't that good.

I wrote not to long ago about MSN hiring people to hand craft search engine results. When MSN's search algorithm isn't able to find good enough results, they direct the request to a hand-crafter who scrubs the web finding the sites your are probably looking for. I only wonder how they are going to find other sites, Google maybe?

My answer plain and simple is: I use Google because their search results are the best and I have tried all of the competition. Until something better comes along I will continue to use Google for all of my search engine needs. I will admit that if I can't find what I'm looking for in the Google results I do try other search engines but usually without success.

Well that's enough of my opinion, I want to hear yours:

• What search engine do you use regularly and why?
• Are there new competitors that have emerged in the market like Google did so many years ago?
• What do you think is going to be the next big revolution in the search engine marketplace?

So get off your ass and getyoursearchon!