A search engine is a complex computer program, usually located on a website, where you can type in search terms and adjust result options to bring up exactly what you are looking for on the internet. There is no doubt that you are familiar with the term “search engine.” After all, the internet is one of the most important aspects of jobs, entertainment and education out there. Search terms allow us to find information on the web. To understand why search engines are so valuable, you have to step back in time to when search engines were only an idea in a few innovators’ minds. You have to step back in time to when Google first began.
The History of Search Engines
There is no doubt that when you think of search engines you think of Google. But why is that? After all, there are plenty of search engines available. What makes Google so valuable that most people consider it synonymous with the term and use it as a verb? After all, you don’t say I’m going to search for BLANK with a search engine. You say: I’m going to Google that.
That’s because Google was the first real search engine. Before search engines, you had to know the exact web address of a site in order to visit it. When search engines first began, they would index existing websites. Google was one of those at the very beginning. But instead of just indexing sites, they took things a step further and created an algorithm that showed you the results you wanted.
The Modern Search Engine
Today’s search engine – such as Google – is the first place everyone goes when they want to look something up on the internet. However, today’s search engines are also businesses. They make money from offering prime placement within search results in a bidding auction, but they also have other products that they are working on with an eye towards future technologies. Google owns some of the internet’s biggest companies and are working on several projects that are going to be very exciting as the world changes.