For an overview of the default syntax of major search engines, see Quick Reference Guide to Search Engine Syntax. This search service find answers to questions stated in plain English. Ask Jeeves works best with questions that have a precise factual answer. Search engines offer numerous features that help you hone in on what you want. For a review of some of these features, and the search engines that support them, see How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory.
Search engines return results in a schematic order.
Most search engines use various criteria to construct a term relevancy rating of each hit and will present your search results in this order. One of the most interesting developments in search engine technology is the organization of search results by peer ranking, concept, site and domain, rather than by relevancy. Search engines that employ this alternative may be thought of as second generation search services. Often multiple pages are returned from a single site because they all contain your search terms. AltaVista and HotBot are among those that avoid this by a technique called results grouping , whereby all the results from one site are clustered together into one result.