Goal Seek: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

First, a definition. Meta Search: a search tool that queries several search engines and / or web directories simultaneously and returns the results in a single combined list without duplicate links.
Confused? Let me give you an example. Let's say there is a meta search engine that recently found that it looks for two engines, say Google and Yahoo. Search both search engines and then return the combined results, without duplicates (results that appear on both engines). Sounds good, huh? Well, there are pros and cons with the meta search that the user must take into account to make his search as productive as possible.

THE PROFESSIONALS

The meta search is fast and saves considerable time for the user, since he can query several engines and directories simultaneously instead of writing a single query in each search engine that wishes to obtain results. Webmasters will find that metasearching is extremely valuable for checking their site's page lists, backlinks, keyword rankings, etc. Any other profession that is research oriented would also consider metasearching essential.

THE CONS

Most, not all, metasearch engines do not allow submissions to the site. They simply get results from other search engines. Because most metasearch engines query 4 to 12 engines and directories simultaneously, and not all will allow Boolean search, therefore, many metasearch engines will not allow Boolean search. (The Boolean search is the use of operators such as AND, OR, quotes and plus / minus symbols).

THE META SEARCH ENGINES

Meta search engines come in a variety of ways. The standard metasearch engine simply queries several engines and returns the results on a single page. Others return the results of each engine consulted separately, dividing them into a single page or opening multiple
browser windows, each with the results of a different engine. And another type, usually known as an all-in-one search, also allows you to query many different engines, but only one engine at a time.

STANDARD GOAL SEARCHERS: OLD SCHOOL

These are some "old but good". These engines have been around for years and are quite popular.

http://www.dogpile.com - DogPile
http://www.mammma.com - Mamma
http://www.metacrawler.com - MetaCrawler
http://www.metasearch.com - MetaSearch
http://www.metaeureka.com - MetaEureka
http://www.multimeta.com - MultiMeta
http://www.search.com - Search.com
http://www.supercrawler.com - SuperCrawler
http://www.webcrawler.com - WebCrawler
http://www.vivissimo.com - Vivissimo
http://www.zapmeta.com - ZapMeta

STANDARD GOAL SEARCHERS: NEW SCHOOL

Below you will find some excellent examples of new meta search engines. Many include ingenious features for advanced searches.

http://www.clusty.com - Clusty
http://www.ez2find.com - ez2find
http://www.huntitout.com - Hunt It Out
http://www.iboogie.com - IBoogie
http://www.intelibuzz.com - Intelibuzz
http://www.ithaki.net - Ithaki
http://www.ixquick.com - IxQuick
http://www.killerinfo.com - KillerInfo
http://www.myprowler.com - MyProwler
http://www.turbo10.com - Turbo10
http://www.webclust.com - WebClust
http://www.windseek.com - WindSeek

ALL-IN-ONE SEARCH PAGES

Below you will find all-in-one search pages.

http://www.allsearches.net - AllSearches
http://www.multi-search-engine.com - Multi-Search-Engine
http://www.queryster.com - Queryster>
http://www.search22.com - Search22
http://www.searchalot.com - Searchalot
http://www.searchezee.com - SearchEzee
http://www.portprophecy.com - Port Prophecy