Module 4: Searching the web – search engine task

Searching the web - search it good. Searching the web - search it real good.

Using an internet search engine is something most people take for granted and do dozens of times a day. Using it effectively is probably another matter altogether.

Task One: Choose your most commonly used internet search engine and do a search with words of your choosing.
I chose Google as it's my search engine of choice and my key words are Red Velvet Cake (my favourite cake and I'm looking for a recipe). I received 1,270,000 hits on this search.

The top 5 pages found are listed below.

Red velvet cake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Red velvet cake is a type of rich and sweet cake, with a distinctive dark red to bright red or red-brown color. Common ingredients include buttermilk, ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_velvet_cake - 29k - Cached - Similar pages

Red Velvet Cake Recipe - Recipes and Information
Red velvet cake recipe - recipes and a little history about red velvet cake. Several recipes from the forum, including history of the red velvet cake or ...
southernfood.about.com/cs/chocolatecakes/a/redvelvet_cake.htm - 26k - Cached - Similar pages

Recipes : Southern Red Velvet Cake : Food Network
Southern Red Velvet Cake. Vegetable oil for the pans 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon fine salt ...
www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_23379,00.html - 84k - Cached - Similar pages

Red Velvet Cake Recipe & Photo - Joyofbaking.com
It is very dramatic looking with its bright red color sharply contrasted by a white frosting.
www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCake.html - 45k - Cached - Similar pages

Yahoo! Directory AU & NZ > Red Velvet Cake Recipes
Index of recipes for red velvet cake, the bright red layered cake made with white frosting. Includes versions with cream cheese frosting, cooked frosting, ...
au.dir.yahoo.com/.../Cooking/Recipes/Specific_Courses_and_Dishes/Desserts_and_Sweets/Cakes/Red_Velvet_Cake/ - 19k - Cached - Similar pages

Task Two: Using copernicus or similar, set it up to search at least three search engines (including one that will search the 'deep web') and repeat eactly the same search

Using Copernic and searching across 12 search engines (AltaVista, AOLSearch, Ask.com, Copernic, Enhance Interactive, alltheweb.com, Live Search, Lycos, Mamma.com, MIVA, Netscape Netcenter and Yahoo), the search produced fewer results as shown below:

Search: red velvet cake
Category: The Web
Matches: 41 result(s)

The top 5 pages found are listed below.

Red velvet cake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Red velvet cake is a type of rich and sweet cake, with a distinctive dark red to bright red or red-brown color. Common ingredients include buttermilk, ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_velvet_cake - 93%
Result found by: FAST Search (alltheweb.com), Netscape Netcenter, Ask.com, Yahoo!, AltaVista, Live Search

About.com: Red Velvet Cake Recipes
Red velvet cake recipe - recipes and a little history about red velvet cake. Several recipes from the forum, including history of the red ...
http://southernfood.about.com/cs/chocolatecakes/a/redvelvet_cake.htm - 92%
Result found by: FAST Search (alltheweb.com), Netscape Netcenter, Ask.com, Yahoo!, AltaVista

Red Velvet Cake Recipe - Red Velvet Cake
This red velvet cake recipe is made with cocoa, red food coloring, vinegar, and buttermilk. ... A red velvet cake recipe from our forum. INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup ...
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocolatecakes/r/blbb146.htm - 91%
Result found by: FAST Search (alltheweb.com), Yahoo!, AltaVista, Live Search

Recipes : Southern Red Velvet Cake : Food Network
Southern Red Velvet Cake. Vegetable oil for the pans 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon fine salt ...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_23379,00.html - 85%
Result found by: Netscape Netcenter, Ask.com, Yahoo!, AltaVista, Live Search

Red velvet cake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The most typical frosting for a red velvet cake is a butter roux icing also ... Allrecipes Red Velvet Cake Recipe with Buttercream Frosting ...
http://rc12.overture.com/d/sr/?xargs=15KPjg1m1St5auwuf0L_iXEbqUkwwB4Ju0-shsCph4bKMo8gEeIPYuPa7By_VIYu1mnw-kvoST-tFnOqz2n_-UFBCMQVuXGOD2yt2QwNhsbfqxG4QTl_V5mqy82pAfaXIeZ16hPeGOnviddtv5KS8c89NKnkLarq4zrozjlKVNSKyJnF9w7Q2MLJoSvPokgdqRJMJNDvJfYMbMzTjRKccZi4khyby6YWJFN2-T1nBu_w7vuAxJzv2cJ9of6Ljwu7-o - 85%
Result found by: Lycos


The top 2 hits are the same both both searching methods. Using Copernic I noticed that some pages or sites were displayed more than once. The first hit and fifth hit link to the same page and yet the percentage of relevancy is 8% lower for the fifth hit. The second and third hits are also for the same site, yet different pages.

For the search I was doing, I think Google provided the best results. Even though Google provided a ridiculously high number of hits, the first page of results was more than enough to provide me with the information I was looking for.

It is important to assess what information you need to gather and then decide the best searching method to achieve the best results. I was looking for a recipe which is easily accessible information. As another quick example, searching on my name to find my home page - this was the first hit that Google gave me and the third from Copernic.

All search information on this page retrieved from Google.com on 25 May 2008.