What is a Meta Search Engine: How is it Helpful in Content Searching?

We are about to uncover the whole truth about meta search engines. But first, what do you intend to get when you type a term in the search box of a search engine?

Relevant content in a detailed yet straightforward form!

This is precisely what search engines deliver as results. There are millions of information uploaded to the internet on a daily basis, and you can access them–just like that–with a few taps on your keyboard.

You basically get access to content in the hierarchy of relevance. The best results rank first, and that is one more escape from analysis paralysis. Now, search engines have become a vital part of our existence.

Through the years, information assessment has been made accessible through search engine crawling, indexing, and ranking. However, there’s a particular class of search engines that have been around for over some two decades–Meta search engines.

They are little-known, but what are they exactly?

What is a Meta Search Engine?

Popular search engines, like Google, Yahoo or Bing, crawl billions of sites and create a directory for these websites. So, when a user searches a term, it checks its database and ranks the most relevant content as search results.

This is not the case with a meta search engine. It’s a search engine without a directory of its own and, therefore, relies on the data provided by several queried search engines to provide results.

It sends queries to various search engines, compiles, and index search results; and categorizes them based on proprietary search or result-ranking methods.

Basically, meta search engines are information aggregation tools that rely solely on the database of several other search engines.

How Does a Meta Search Engine Work?

Think of it this way:

A meta search engine uses the “two (or many) good heads are better than one” theory.

This is because it sends out search queries to several search engines and compiles the results.

If you type in a keyword or keyphrase in the search box of a meta search engine and hit search, the tool will send the request to multiple search engines, and its server will not display results until each queried search engine sends its results.

Meta search engines show results depending on their search result-display format. It can be based on search engine ratings or result content. They also prevent duplicate URLs from appearing in search results.

Examples of Meta Search Engines

Some examples of meta search engines include:

1. Dogpile: This is one of the major meta search engine owned by InfoSpace. It links to help users concentrate their search on specific categories like News, Audio. It keeps track of the 15 most recent searches you performed. When browser gets close the list is automatically reset.
2. Vivisimo: Vivisimo will compile matching results from different search engines for your query and also index the result pages automatically.
3. Mamma: Mamma, built in 1996, is one of the oldest meta search engines. It makes a paid listings option available to advertisers.
4. Kartoo: It analyzes search results data by visually displaying result pages that are linked by keywords.
5. SurfWax: Surfwax users with free accounts can choose their preferred search engines from a list. You can also check where your keywords appear in a result page using the “SiteSnaps” feature. It saves results for later.
6. Clusty: Clusty displays the standard web search results and allows you to index up to ten different web content-including blogs, images, and shopping database-using Vivisimo’s dynamic clusters.
7. CurryGuide: CurryGuide is for the US and diverse European countries. It saves your results for future use.
8. Excite: It was formerly a crawler-based search engine. In 2002, Excite was acquired and modified by InfoSpace, but it retains its portal features.
9. Fazzle: Fazzle was formerly SearchOnline. It offers a very flexible custom interface to a ton of information sources.
10. Gimenei: Gimenei has an advanced search feature for country-specific searches. It sends queries to search engines (numbers concealed) and eliminates duplicates from search results.
11. IceRocket: IceRocket has a “Quick View” display feature related to what WiseNut offers. It gives a display of thumbnails.
12. Info.com: It retrieves results from 14 search engines and pay-per-click (PPC) directories. It has several features that include news, shopping, audio, and video search.
13. InfoGrid: InfoGrid gives direct links- in a compact format- to major search sites in diverse categories. It also offers meta and news search features.
14. Infonetware RealTerm Search: This site, like Vivisimo, does topical categorization of search results. You can choose different topics and check results from all, instead of being restricted to one topic.
15. Ithaki: Ithaki is accessible in 14 languages and offers more than 35 different search categories. It’s probably the most global meta search engine. Moreover, it offers a country-specific search.
16. Ixquick: Ixquick classifies results based on the number a site falls into within the “top 10” rankings by various search engines.
17. iZito: It is an easy-to-use meta search engine for a custom result set. It allows you to absorb information at once by displaying listings up to three columns on the screen.
18. Jux2: It allows you to search two prominent search engines at once. You get to compare both results first, then individual results next.
19. Meceoo: With Meceoo, you can create an exclusion list to block some pages of/ specific sites from showing. It is also available in a French version
20. MetaCrawler: It is one of the oldest meta search engines. MetaCrawler was developed in July 1995 and acquired by InfoSpace in Feb. 97.
21. MetaEureka: This queries various major search engines, paid listings inclusive. It displays an option to see Alexa ranking of pages listed in search results.
22. ProFusion: It retrieves info from major search engines and the deep (invisible) web. The search company, Intelliseek, acquired proFusion.
23. Query Server: It sends queries to several major search engines and niche search services–news, health, politics, and finance.
24. Turbo10: It has a high-speed interface that meta searches several traditional search engines and the invisible web database.
25. Search.com: CNET operates Search.com, which offers both a web-wide search and specialty search options. SavvySearch obtained it in 1999.
26. Ujiko: This is developed by the makers of KartOO, a visual meta search tool. It allows you to prune your results by trashing out irrelevant content.
27. WebCrawler: Formerly owned by Excite, WebCrawler is a crawled-based search engine that was purchased by InfoSpace. It uses the InfoSpace meta search technology but provides a speedy and ad-free interface.
28. ZapMeta: It allows the search results to be categorized in various ways and provides several other features, including results visualization tools.
29. Zoo: Zoo, like Dogpile, is owned by InfoSpace LLC.
30. Yabado: This meta search engine sends queries to about ten different search engines. It performs these as anonymized searches.
31. Metager: University of Hanover collaborated with SUMA e.V. to develop Metager. This meta search engine performs anonymized searches also. The web associator, Noteworthy, shows terms that are similar to the search query.

How Did Meta Search Engines Come About?

SearchSavvy, the first meta search engine, was developed by Daniel Dreilinger of Colorado State University. It allowed users to query up to 20 different search engines and directories at a time.

Eric Selberg, a student at the University of Washington, and Oren Etzioni, his advisor, developed an advanced version in 1995 called MetaCrawler.

MetaCrawler was a narrower but advanced version of SearchSavvy. It includes its own search syntax, six search engines to query,  and more accurate results than SearchSavvy.

Even though MetaCrawler gave more accurate search results, sending queries to individual search engines is still considered a better approach to improve accuracy.

Ixquick, owned by Surfboard Holding BV, was developed by David Bodnick in 1998. It maintains users’ privacy to a high level and ranks results by stars.

In 2005, researchers from both Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh collaborated with Dogpile, a meta search tool owned by InfoSpace, to determine how important meta search engines were.

The results showed that over 10,000 user-defined search queries came from Google, Ask Jeeves, and Yahoo!, and only a 3.2% fraction of the first page results were similar for a specific search query.

Do Meta Search Engines Work For SEO Research?

Meta search engines can aid SEO research in several ways. You can find possible synonyms or phrase combinations for a particular keyword with ease. They help with keyword optimization since they can access a series of sites when querying a specific term.

So, Yes! Meta search engines provide a ton of keyword data for SEO. They have lots of SEO-enhance features such as:

• Search results clustering – This is grouping a search term based on phrase and word derivations. It allows you to brainstorm when doing keyword research and is particularly useful for a narrow customer base.
• Results comparison – The purpose of comparing terms between search engines (or social media) is to deliver the most relevant content to that search. Langreiter.com, for example, compares Google and Yahoo search results, whereas Fuzzfind compares social media and search engine results.
• Keyword Analysis – Meta search engines can be easily used to find potential keywords on a topic. They also analyze keywords–appearing in meta searches–textually and visually. You get to see how your keywords appear in search pages and sites interlinked by the term.

Is Meta Search Engine Optimization Important?

You should find out where your customers are and optimize for it. Google takes around 86% of US search traffic. Therefore, channel your SEO efforts into producing quality content that Google will find relevant.

Google is the king of search queries, and it’s where you should focus your SEO tips. However, if around 86% percent of your website traffic comes from Google, put in 86% of your resources into Google SEO. Use the other 14% for meta search engines.

What are the Advantages of Meta Search Engines?

Why use one search engine when you can use many at once?

A meta search engine is like a know-it-all. It can access several search engines at once.  A search engine, like Yahoo, will search its database for information on a query.

But a meta search engine, like Dogpile, will send this query out to multiple search engines (like Google, Bing, Yahoo) and accumulate more detailed/accurate resources from these major search engines.

A meta search engine is a useful tool for researching unknown topics. It gives a detailed yet straightforward answer about the search term. Conducting meta searches has several important benefits, and here are a few of them:

•  In-depth search results – If you meta search a term, the tool sends the query to different major search engines and aggregates results produced by individual databases. This leads to detailed and accurate search results.
• Ease of use – When you research specific topics using a meta search tool, you get quick automatic access to several specialized search engines without asking individual search engines.
• Provides appropriate results – Meta search results are not just comprehensive ones-they are the best. The tool queries several search engines and compiles the most relevant content as its search results.
• Saves time – Imagine having to search for specific keywords in different search engines. It’s going to be tedious and time-wasting. Using meta search engines for research saves time.
• Filters out duplicate results – The meta search results do not produce duplicates that are usually found when using two or more search engines.
• Keeps privacy – Google, for example, tracks your internet activities when you browse the web using your google account. Unlike these other search engines, meta search engines keep the privacy of your queries.
• Possible Keyword Research – You can easily research possible keywords on any topic using meta search engines. They are also sources to analyze meta search result keywords; you’ll see how they show in search pages linked by the term.
• Gives a Range of Search Engines – A majority of meta search engines allows you the option to choose your preferred list of search engines to query when you want to research a term.
• Better pricing plans – A good part of being a meta search engine user is that you get better prices compared to standard search engines.
• Metric system for marketers – Meta search engines make it easy for you to measure quantifiable assessments; and necessary to track and compare performance. These tools allow tracking website traffic, sessions, and pageviews.  Marketers can assess and track metrics of several sites quickly and easily by using a meta search engine.

What are the Disadvantages of Meta Search Engines?

Meta search engines have been in existence for over 20 years but still have some shortcomings compared to big search bosses like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

A lot of times, two (or many) good heads might not be better than a genius one. Although meta search engines have several advantages, here are some of the disadvantages users have encountered in the cause of use:

• Inaccurate Interpretation of Query Syntax – They are quite simple and do not have an accurate grasp of interpreting query syntax like the major search engines. This approach restricts queries to basic searches.
• Dependent on Standard Search Engines – Meta search engines only seem more efficient because other specialized search engines are. The indexing of search engines is similar. Therefore, a search engine is only better than the other based on the algorithm with which it searches its directory and ranks results. If these search engines don’t index a website or page, meta search engines will find no result for a search on that term.
• Ad-filled interface – Several meta search engines display several ads and sponsored results. Thus, reducing the organic search results produced.
• Long journeying – The long journey-of users being a step away from the content site-makes the experience confusing for users and leads to low conversion rates for the meta search engine.
•  Lengthy data aggregation period – It takes more time than when a search engine is queried for the results. This is usually because meta search engines won’t display results until each queried search engine responds.

Although meta search engines have some shortcomings, the benefits far outweigh them.

Is There a Future For Meta Search?

Although meta search engines are relevant, the big search bosses like Google, Bing, etc. prove to be more efficient search tools. Meta search engines can no longer compete against the big search industry, according to market research.

DuckDuckGo uses its web crawler, DuckDuckBot, and up to 400 other sources to compile its search results, including other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex, and crowdsourcing sites like Wikipedia.

While not a true meta search engine, the growth of DuckDuckGo shows that there may be some hope for these engines against the big guns. It had huge growth in the last couple of years due to usage by customers who are interested in protecting their privacy online.

Despite the fact that Google takes an unchallengeable 90% market share, DuckDuckGo doubled its search volume, reaching up to million searches per day.

DuckDuckGo’s success and growth in 2019 can challenge other meta search engines to reach for greatness.  On the flip side, there are alternative privacy options that guarantee a higher level of security-like VPNs. This choice can reduce meta searches.

Wrap Up

Meta search engines are still in existence. They provide their users with many benefits-thorough search results, privacy maintenance, ease of use, and better pricing.

Although there are advanced search engines like Google dominating the search engine industry, every company has the chance to stand out if it puts excellent customer service up top. In doing so, meta search engines have a chance to thrive like DuckDuckGo is doing.

Whatever the future of meta search engines is, they are a significant part of web search history. As SEO is going nowhere, we’re sure to see more meta search engines in the future.