6.2 Demonstrate knowledge of search logic, search engines and features of the Internet

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Truncation and wildcards
3. Grammar of the Internet
4. Search engine operation
   1. Search terms
   2. How ranking works
5. Ownership of the web
6. Dark internet and the invisible web

Search terms

When the user enters the chosen search terms, the search engine uses complex and proprietary methods to select resulting websites which should satisfy the search - basically the engine is trying to match your search terms against its keywords.

Each search engine has its own 'secret' methods, giving weight to particular words, including extensions to search terms such as plurals and so on. These algorithms may change with time and so different results for the same search terms may be obtained if the search is repeated at a later date.

Let's look now at How ranking works ...