Information searching pattern of web search engine: A comparative study

With the development of information technology, search engines are widely used tools to find information on the Internet. Varieties of information sources are available on the Internet and searching this huge amount information is very difficult. With the advent of search engines, information access is made easy. Although search engines are highly popular tools to search information effectively, the selection of a suitable search engine is a difficult task. Which are the suitable search engines for information retrieval? Which search engine retrieves more relevant information ? Which search engine covers more information? How do they differ from one another in their performance? Is there a single Web search engine that out-performs all others in information retrieval? These are the major questions being faced by the user of search engines. The current study attempts to seek answers to these questions. In this study a comprehensive attempt has been made to evaluate six search engines viz., Yahoo, Google, AltaVista, Lycos, Excite and Hotbot. Study also suggests some suitable search engines for the information retrieval.