ABSTRACT

Successful retrieval of information is the primary goal of most Web users. According to a Pew Foundation report: “Search engines are highly popular among Internet users. Searching the Internet is one of the earliest activities people try when they first start using the Internet, and most users quickly feel comfortable with the act of searching . . . 84% of internet users have used search engines and, on a given day, 56% of those online use a search engine.”2 As everyone who has searched on the Web knows, the power of search engines has changed dramatically in the past decade. To understand the current situation and to anticipate future developments we need to understand the problems involved in providing quick and reliable searches, how it was done a decade ago and how it is done now.