History of Search Engines – Infographic

Tracing a 16 year period from 1994 to 2010, the chart below presents a super-short History of Search; but it still has some gems in it. For instance, I never knew why the domain dmoz.org was used for the open directory project!

Along with the most popular search engines of today, Yahoo, Google and Bing, the chart includes ones that faded gracefully into oblivion. I remember the pre-Google era when we queried the web through Hotbot, Lycos and Alta Vista.

However, instead of briefing us on technological advancements in search technology, the chart focuses more on the business aspects such as takeovers or buyouts. Anyway, the pithy points do tell us some of the important developments that took place in the major search engine companies.

Great to pin up on a board in an ‘Internet for Beginners’ class.
You may also be interested in the history of search engines and internet fundamentals.

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