Structure and Functions of Metasearch Engines

Abstract

The present study systematically examines the structure and functions of metasearch engines (MSEs) viz. Dogpile, Metacrawler, DuckDuckGo and Startpage. Further, it identifies the features and services of four metasearch engines and compares them. A checklist method was used to evaluate the four metasearch engines.These check spots are prepared regarding features and services of metasearch engines. The data were collected between April 1 to June 14, 2021, spending two hours daily. Initially, the data was recorded after accessing each MSE, and later,the data was transferred to MS Excel. The study ascertained that out of 101 check spots, Dogpile scored (66) points, Metacrawler (63), DuckDuckGo (71), and Startpage (59). DuckDuckGo is ranked first among all the four metasearch engines with 70.3 %, followed by Dogpile, Metacrawler, and Startpage respectively. A checklist used in the study contains only 101 check spots to compare the metasearch engines. Further, users’ perception regarding the four metasearch engines is also not covered in the present study. The present study is the first of its kind, which compares four popular metasearch engines using a checklist method. The outcomes of the study shall help research scholars, librarians, information scientists, faculty members, and common masses choose the appropriate metasearch engine. Further, the study shall also help the developers of e-resources in incorporating more features so that users can benefit.

Measuring performance of metasearch engines to access information: an exploratory study based on precision metrics

“…The present study is an extension of the study conducted by Bhardwaj et al (2023) Figure 2 depicts the methodology used to evaluate the effectiveness of the metasearch engine. The study began with selecting metasearch engines, then selecting queries, performing the queries, assessing precision metrics, comparing the results, and analyzing the findings.…”

“…Chouaki et al (2023) examined three search engines that prioritize privacy: Startpage, Qwant, and DuckDuckGo. Bhardwaj et al, (2023) studied the structural and functional analysis of four MSEs -DuckDuckGo, Dogpile, Metacrawler, and Startpage. The study emphasized that among the four metasearch engines, DuckDuckGo ranked first, with 70.3% features, followed by Dogpile, Metacrawler, and Startpage.…”

“…A Study has shown that approximately 80% of web searchers do not view more than the first 10 results on a search engine results page (SERP) (Kumar et al, 2005;Jansen et al, 2000;H€ olscher and Strube, 2000;Silverstein et al, 1999). MSEs extract main phrases from the title and clusters using a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) neural network to retrieve results (Bhardwaj et al, 2023).…”

“…and uses a specific algorithm to create a virtual database from heterogeneous databases (Das, 2006). Metasearch presents an excellent opportunity to boost deep web search visibility by expanding a multitude of library services in both respect search engine interfaces and selecting a more exact result-generating metasearch engine (Bhardwaj et al, 2023).…”

“…No two MSEs are alike and vary in search engine preference, relevancy synchronization (Ball and Nath, 2009a, b), duplicate elimination, and source coverage. However, most MSEs do not remove result duplication or individual search window (Bhardwaj et al, 2023) for particular queries. Meta-search engines prove valuable and user-friendly, fostering efficiency in collaborative searching by consolidating outcomes from various search engines and presenting them through a unified interface (Perez-Crespo et al, 2018).…”