Software that searches for data based on some criteria. Although search engines have been around for decades, they were brought to the forefront after the Web exploded onto the scene. Every Web search engine site uses a search engine that it has either developed itself or has purchased from a third party. Search engines can differ dramatically in the way they find and index the material on the Web, and the way they search the indexes from the user's query.
Although a search engine is technically the software and algorithms used to perform a search, the term has become synonymous with the Web site itself. For example, Google is a major search site on the Web, but rather than being called the "Google search site," it is commonly known as the "Google search engine." See Web search engines, vertical search engine, organic search results, search engine optimization and social search engine.
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