What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you tend to know about a query? Then, of course, if you’re reading this blog, you know you need Google, a search engine, to have a decent answer to any of your queries. 

So, here is how search engines come into action. As the name suggests, a search engine is an engine (server) where you can search for anything in order to have the answers to your queries. 

To be more precise, a search engine is software (or server) that helps people to retrieve the information they are looking for. Moreover, a search engine combines websites and web pages with different types of content. And the ultimate goal of the content is to satisfy people’s wants by responding to their queries. 

You will find two types of users of search engines. One group tends to acquire information or consume content, and the other group is the creators of the content we consume. We have a burning example of this concept.

For example, we make content (this blog post), and you’re reading this means you’re consuming the content. So, here are two groups involved. 

How Do Search Engines Work?

Search engines around the world work with some basic functionality. Search engines like Google and Yahoo work based on 3 steps. These are; 

• Crawling 
• Indexing
• Ranking

Every search engine has a number of bots, spiders, or crawlers. The primary duty of these crawlers is to find the latest web pages on the internet. Once they find the web pages have the latest information, they index them in the correct order. 

And the last step is ranking. Here, we see the final output from the search engines. 

Once the search engines have crawled and indexed, they show the relevant search results based on the user’s queries. As simple as that. 

What Are the Types of Search Engines? 

Before knowing how many types of search engines there are, it’s essential to know why they differ.  However, the main job of all search engines is to deliver the proper response to the searcher’s query. 

But only some search engines work the same. The leading search engines like Google and Yahoo might cover all the topics, but there are some specific queries you tend to know; therefore, other search engines come into play. 

In addition, there are mainly 4 types of search engines. They are;

• Mainstream Search Engines
• Private Search Engines.
• Vertical Search Engines.
• Computational Search Engines. 

Now, let’s elaborate on the search engines a bit. 

Mainstream Search Engines

These are the most common search engines we often use.  Google, Yahoo, and Bing are all the most prominent examples of mainstream search engines. Here, many web pages are available for searchers to provide them with the best search results. 

Private Search Engines

This is another common type of search engine. DuckDuckgo is a core example of a private search engine. What the private search engine does is ensure the security of internet browsing and follow the guideline of mainstream search engines. 

Vertical Search Engines

The most significant benefit of vertical search engines is that they allow you to search your queries based on categories. Directory sites are prominent examples of vertical search engines. 

In addition, e-commerce shops like Amazon, where you can search for many products, are another example of vertical search engines.