Search Engines - Can you live without them?

While I was having a look at search engines and data retrieval (things that I had left aside for a while now), it dawned on me that it’s just so awfully complicated to PROPERLY implement an enterprise-wide search mechanism from scratch, despite the vast amount of info about search engines over the web and the fact that SEO books are now flying all over the place (you can catch one here, here or even higher up.. here).

The emergence of new search engines (or, should I say, ‘revamped’ search engines like Ask, Yahoo Search and Windows Live Search ) has created new paradigms in search and information retrieval. This has subsequently led to new ways of retrieving data that go far beyond normal text-based search. Examples are searching embedded text within images[I use Evenote..Remember Everything] or even locating a place on a map (given the appropriate geocodes).

Conversely, some questions can be raised about the efficiency of existing search processes, some of which are:-

• PageRanking Algorithms –Up to what level can they be manipulated /spoofed upon?
• Meta tags – Are they really being used in the context of a search?
• UrlRewriting – To what extent do you attach meaning to your Urls?
• Do you always display the most important information at the top of your web page?

Thankfully, these issues are being addressed by some (quite often conflicting) SEO experts. That’s all from me for today. Keep watching this space on how I get on with my quest for the ultimate search solution.