INLS 080: Assignment 2

Search Engine Analysis    March 18, 2002

What information are you looking for?
For this assignment, I'll be searching for information on creating dynamic websites using PHP and mySQL. Essentially, I want to completely separate content and design. I'd like to investigate how I can store content in a database, and pull that into webpages when it is called upon. I want to be able to add, remove, or change the content through html forms, making it possible for non-technical people to update the site. For this assignment, I will be using "general" search engines, rather than a search engine specific to Internet technologies.

Do you already know a great deal about the subject or do you need to find out lots of details?
I know a little bit about this subject already. However, I am actively trying to learn more. I've written PHP scripts, and I've also created mySQL databases; however, I haven't yet used the two to create dynamic websites.

What is your query?
php AND mysql AND dynamic

What search terms will you use?

• php
• mysql
• dynamic

Which search engines did you choose and why?

This has always been my search engine of choice. Google claims to index more pages than any other search engine, and searches are completed fast. Furthermore, Google's only business is searching. Unlike other search pages, Google is not trying to sell things or take your focus elsewhere. Plus, they don't allow annoying banner ads. http://www.google.com This is another one of my favorite search engines to use. I've found that Yahoo really shines when I'm looking for websites that's 100 percent about a specific topic (rather than a topic which I'm hoping to find hidden somewhere within an unrelated webpage). Yahoo's categories (found in the main body section of the homepage) are also the most helpful compared to any other portal on the Internet. The proprietary information that Yahoo offers is usually topnotch. http://www.yahoo.com Ask Jeeves is a good place to look when you feel you've run out of places to search. The attractive thing about this search engine is that you can enter your query in the form of a question. However, for the purpose of this assignment, I will use the query stated above instead of a question for consistency. http://www.askjeeves.com

Is there a particular feature that would help your search?
Both Google and Yahoo allow you to use an advanced search form. This allows you to filter results by words, phrases, dates, language, or country. Ask Jeeves lets you enter a search using a question. However, I will not be using any of these features since they are not offered across the board. Instead, to keep things consistent, I will use simple Boolean logic to form the search shown above. Google offers a nice spell checking feature that will suggest alternate spellings for search terms that it doesn't recognize. Also, Google allows you to change its interface to the language or theme you prefer.

Of the three search engines used, which gave you the most satisfactory result? Why?
Google gave me the best results. Actually, it turns out that Yahoo doesn't power their own searches anymore. Instead, Yahoo outsources searching to Google and Compaq, so my results using Google and Yahoo ended up being the same. What makes Google better is that it:

• Attempts to translate non-English pages
• Will give you a list of "similar pages"
• Shows you a cached version of the page in case it's no longer there

Overall, Google gave more useful results than Ask Jeeves. The pages that Ask Jeeves suggested were mostly consulting companies that will create dynamic websites using PHP and mySQL, rather than tutorials.

Which features of the search engines did you use?
Each search engine provided different features, so n an effort to keep my searches as consistent as possible across the three search engines, I chose not to use any of the extra features.

Compare the features of your chosen engines and describe any difficulties you had with your search.
As it turns out, search engines today don't require the AND operator. Instead, all searches default to AND. However, Google was the only search engine to alert me of this; I had to look at the URL in the other search engines to notice that a "+" was automatically added to my search string. This didn't create any problems though. It seems, although I can't be certain, that each engine threw the AND of the search.

Did you find the information you were looking for?
To an extent, I did. I found lots of good information on the subject, but I know for a fact that there's more out there. Each engine returned tens of thousands of results, so I'm sure that if I sifted through all of it, I'd find more good resources. Like I said before, Google provided the most relevant results.

If you had problems, what did you do to try and overcome these difficulties?
Fortunately, I ran into no problems!