Best Search Engine of the web - Which one?

If you've spent a little time on the internet, you already know of the popular web search engines - Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL. Maybe you started using one and have stuck to it like a leech or maybe you've shifted your loyalties. In this article we shall be take a closer look web search engines and some of the factors that make them good or bad.

Is the most popular web search engine the best?

We all know the world's most popular web search engine - it's Google! But it is the best?

Firstly, no web search engine can be perfect - there is just too much information on the web and it keeps changing each second. There are new web pages and files being added and the old ones being changed or deleted. With our current computing power, it's just too difficult (some would say, impossible) to keep track of everything in this highly dynamic environment.

Secondly, it is not possible (and it would stupid too) to point out the best search engine in the world without providing sufficient reasons. Why? Because the field of web search keeps changing each day. Search engine companies are just like other businesses - they always want to outdo the competition.

Most of you routinely use the Google search engine and consider it the best, but some would disagree and would put their money on Yahoo! or MSN. At times it all depends on what you are searching for. Probably a lot many of web surfers have been satisfied with the Google search results and that's what made the company such a big force to reckon with on the web.

Now let us list that factors that will help us grade web search engines.

Factors for ranking search engines

There are a number of factors that can help us in grading web search engines. A few of the important ones I came up with are listed below:

The database size

Each search engine maintains a database of the indexed web pages. The size of the database is definitely a factor when considering who shall wear the crown as the best web search engine. Furthermore, the internet is a highly dynamic medium and the database needs to be as current as possible - though we all know no search engine can be perfect and provide a snapshot of the web.

Search results

The relevancy of the search results is another important factor. If a search results are not pertinent to the query, the search engine has failed. Users would come back to the search engine only if they found it useful and it was able to answer their query. Additionally the query results need to be displayed in the shortest time possible - the faster the better. So the indexing and searching algorithms that form the heart of the search engine need to be really fast.

If the search engine automatically filters offensive material, it is an added bonus - unless, obviously, you are intentionally looking for such information.

The query results should also be displayed in a manner that is easy to comprehend - even by a 6 year old (I have one and I know).

As far as I am concerned, the number of results a search engine throws up for a certain query is not a major criterion; relevancy is much more important - after all have you ever gone beyond the 10th page of the results?

Usability

What you see on Google.com or Yahoo.com is simply the search engine interface. This interface needs to load quickly for a user if they want to perform a search.

Also, will physically challenged surfers be able to use the interface with as much ease as others? Or is there a different version available?

And talking of versions, is there one for mobile devices?

Indexed information

The kind of information the search engine has indexed in its database is also an important factor. Not all search queries would lead to relevant results on web pages. Maybe there is a better result but it's in a video or an audio file... maybe even a scanned document. Is a search engine able to read and index various types of file formats?

So which is the best web search engine according to you?

I hope you gave enjoyed reading this article as I have in writing it. How about sharing your thoughts on it and telling us which search engine you think is the best in the world.