A Search Engine Worth Gambling on

Getting what you want out of a search engine is a lot like ordering a meal in France when you don't speak French: you're not always going to get what you asked for. In fact, you might just end up with a hunk of jambon (ham) rather than the jam croissant you want.

If that's how you feel when you're searching the Web, try using Google. This gem of a search engine officially opened for business September 21, but has been available in beta for over a year.

Developed by two Stanford Ph.D. candidates, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google is lightning-quick. And, while it's not completely on target, it's close.

Search results reflect only those pages that contain all the words in your query. So if you type in "Paris hotels," Google only returns Web pages that contain that phrase or those words. You won't see a page touting the merits of plaster of Paris.

To further hone your search results, Google uses a technology called PageRank, which matches your query to the most popular pages on the Web. The popularity and relevance of a page are determined by the number of other pages that link to it.

Take a Gamble

If you feel confident about Google's ability to direct you, you can use the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button. This sends you directly to the most relevant site that Google finds.

If you're not the gambling type, you can search Google the old-fashioned way, by typing your request and clicking the search button. The results page lists the title of the page, an excerpt that contains your query words, the page's URL, a cached link, and a GoogleScout link.

Clicking the cached link will show you the content of the page as it appeared when Google indexed it. Since sites change so often, it may be that the information on the cached page better matches your query than the current site page.

Google's newest feature is GoogleScout, a link that can be used to tell Google to explore the Web for additional pages related to that particular result.