Where Am I? - Internet Basics

3.8. Search Engines

So far, we have dealt with web addresses or URLs that are already known or bookmarked.  Most of the time, pages on the Web are found by searching. 

A program known as a search engine is required to look for these pages. Popular web search engines include: Google®; Bing®; Yahoo!®.  Sometimes your computer will be set to open a search engine as soon as you open your browser.  As well, most browsers will have a search engine option in the top toolbar.  You can also type in the URL for a search engine.  For example:  www.google.com

The search engine is designed to search publically available pages for keywords or sets of words that match your search parameters.  There are millions of pages on the Web and search engines retrieve thousands of matches to most queries.  Making an effective query is an important skill to develop for successful web searches.

While Google® is currently the search engine of choice for most people, it does not ensure you have completed an exhaustive search.  Try other general search engines and search engines that are for specific areas of interest to see what types of results you will receive.

If Google® is not open on your browser and you wish to use it, type www.google.com in the address bar at the top of your screen, or just type the word "Google" into your current browser search bar and it will come up in the search list. 

Note:  Google has hundreds of regional domains as well.  For example, if you are in Canada, www.google.com will redirect to www.google.ca  Your search will priorize for your country and language of choice.