Chapter 3

            Chapter 3 is about searching on the Internet. I’ve been using search engines just about as long as I’ve been using computers, and I’ve never completely grasped how a site like Google works. How do they determine which sites to list, and in what order, in response to a search query? This chapter explains how search engines use databases to populate search results, touches on search engine optimization, and covers advanced search techniques. Later, the authors go over how to judge the validity of a website which serves to help readers judge for themselves which websites they should, or should not, trust. I found that search engines employ web robots to search the web for new websites to add to their databases. Part of what they do is decipher the HTML meta tags that are incorporated into the head section of the website by the website’s author. By doing this, relevant information related to a particular search term can be assimilated into the pre-existing list of websites within the database and can be more easily recalled for future use. Along with this information I found the bit about using advanced search techniques interesting because I have rarely had to use that feature. I suppose that’s a testament to how relevant the top search results have become.

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