| Name of Search Engine |
(Name of First Search Engine) |
(Name of Second Search Engine) |
| What is the URL? |
Dogpile |
Yahoo |
| What is it used for? |
compiles best results from Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, Looksmart, Teoma,
FindWhat, and other search engines |
Web search engine and human edited search directory of categories |
| How easy or difficult is it to figure out how to
search? |
Easy to navigate search bar for entry of keywords |
Easy to navigate search bar for entry of keywords |
| How do you navigate through it? |
Can search by "relevance" or by search engine, can narrow
search |
Submit keywords, can narrow search |
| How many Web sites are covered? |
could not find info |
could not find info |
| What are some searching tips? |
conduct advanced search, use terms in correct order, use appropriate
spacing |
choose words carefully, either/or usage, word order, related searches |
| Can you change the default search logic? |
can select language, autospelling, adult filter, bold search terms or
results display, but cannot change the way Dogpile"weights its
returns by "commercial" or "noncommercial" sites |
can filter adult sites, language, search by directory or web search
engine |
| Can you change the way in which results are displayed?
|
yes, by relevance or search engine, # of results displayed |
yes, by # of results displayed |
| How many results did you receive? |
77 |
25,700 |
| How current are the results? |
some results back to 1996, but irrelevant (I was looking for a recipe) |
some back to 1998 |
| What proportion of the results were relevant?
|
most relevant, some seemed irrelevant or obscure |
top 20 displayed all relevant |
| Was the amount of detail displayed with the results
adequate? |
no--I often could not figure out the connection to my search term
through this description |
yes, more elaborate description than Dogpile, easy to see what I was
looking at |
| Was the order in which the results were displayed
evident and/or logical? |
no--I couldn't figure out from top to bottom, even when selecting a
search "by relevance, though perhaps the "commercial" sites
ranked to the top? |
no--again, perhaps more "commercial" sites ranked to the top? |
| What are the strengths/weaknesses? |
I like aspects of metasearch, looking in multiple search engines, yet
far fewer returns were generated; I dislike Dogpile obviously returning
"commercial sites" over "non-commercial" sites |
though I had no direct directory hits initially, when I broadened my
term, I found 216, clearly divided by sponsor vs. directory, and the human
element of directories, which listed a non-profit organization as the #1
return, is refreshing! |
| How often is it updated? |
no clue, but I assume daily |
again, no clue, but I assume as the Net changes daily |
| What is the e-mail address to submit questions?
|
information @dogpile.com |
Yahoo Help Center |
| On a scale of 1 to 10 (1=poor, 10=superior), rate
each search engine. |
5 |
8 |
| Briefly describe why you rated each as you did. |
search engine breakdown was strange, some results for Yahoo seemed
irrelevant to my topic and did not match with Yahoo's actual top 10
results; the weighting of "commercial" sites. |
seemed to me more comprehensive, better descriptions, more choice, a
global aspect (Yahoo India, e.g.), includes copyright/permissions info,
human element of directories, clearly delineated sponsor vs. non-sponsor
links |
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