Search engine

A program or tool to help find information stored on a computer system or the web.

Search engines have become the navigators for the web. They allow anyone to interrogate vast databases of content in search of specific criteria, typically those containing a given word or phrase. They retrieve a list of references that match those criteria.

Search engines use regularly updated indexes to operate quickly and efficiently. Search engines typically refer to the consumer-facing tools offered by firms such as Google or Yahoo, but the term can also be applied to enterprise search engines (which search on intranets), personal search engines (which search individual personal computers) and mobile search engines. Some search engines also mine data available in newsgroups, large databases or open directories. Most web sites which call themselves search engines are actually front ends to search engines owned by other companies.