Below is a list of all the major search engines. These engines are considered to be major engines because they are either well-known or well-used. All of the engines below get literally millions of users to them daily, this is why it is important to get your site listed in all of them.
MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES
AllTheWeb, AOL Search, Ask.com, Google, LookSmart, Lycos, MSN Live, Search, Yahoo. These are the places that you need to get your site listed into because of there potential to generate traffic to your site.
TOP SEARCH ENGINES FREE LIST:
Google - has rapidly become one of the top search engines, mainly as a result of providing relevant results quickly, by using a system called Page Rank, Google filters a large portion of the irrelevant results. Google currently lists over 4.5 billion pages in its database. Today, through its partnerships with major players, including Yahoo and AOL, Google powers over 80% of all searches performed internationally. 2400 Bayshore Parkway, Mountain View, CA USA 94043, Phone: (650) 330-0100 Fax: (650) 618-1499
Fast / All the Web - established in 1997in Oslo, Norway. It is currently one of the largest and fastest growing databases on the web with a particular bias towards multimedia. Fast / All The Web was acquired by Overture early in 2003. P.O. Box 1677 Vika NO-0120 Oslo Norway Tel: +47 21 60 12 00 Fax: +47 21 60 12 01
Inktomi is a trusted partner for many of the world's leading technology companies, it is the power behind the search box found on the world's top portal sites such as AOL, MSN, Overture (formerly GoTo) iWon, HotBot, NBCi and many others, reaching more than 80% of the internet population. Inktomi was acquired by Yahoo early in 2003. 4100 East 3rd Avenue, Foster City, CA USA 94404, Tel 650.653.2800, Fax 650.653.2801
Lycos - there are standard search results, and categorized directory listings. Lycos has acquired HotBot making it one of the major players. Lycos makes use of the Fast/All The Web database for its results. 400-2 Totten Pond Road, Waltham, MA 02451, Ph: 781-370-2700, Fax 781-370-3415
Hotbot - launched in 1996, HotBot was originally owned by Wired Magazine, but has more recently been purchased by Lycos. Search results are served by FAST/AllTheWeb.com, Google, Inktomi and Teoma making HotBot a powerful meta search facility. 660 Third Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA USA 94117, Ph: 415-276-8400, Fax: 415-276-8599
Microsoft - Useful and comprehensive search facility from the Microsoft network, also makes use of results from Overture, LookSmart and Inktomi. One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA USA 98052, Tel: 425 882 8080, Fax: 206 703 2641
America Online - Founded in 1985, AOL is a world leading interactive service, with more than 29 million members around the globe. The AOL search facility is powered primarily by Google. 22000 AOL Way, Dulles, VA USA 20166, Tel: 703 265 4670
Ask Jeeves - human-powered search service that aims to direct you to the exact page that answers your plain language question. If it fails to find a match within its own database, it will provide matching web pages from various search engines. Ask Jeeves owns Teoma. 5858 Horton Street, Suite 350, Emeryville, CA USA 94608, Tel: 510-555-1212
Overture is the world's leading Pay Per Click Internet search provider, the company was created in 1997. Overture's search results are distributed to thousands of sites across the Internet, including Yahoo!, MSN, America Online, Netscape, AltaVista, Lycos/HotBot, and many others. Advertisers pay Overture the amount of their bid only when a consumer clicks on their listing, providing them with one of the most cost effective ways to drive targeted customer leads to their sites. In 2003 Overture went on the acquisition trail, buying first AltaVista and then Fast / All The Web in quick succession. In July 2003, Overture was acquired by Yahoo. 74 North Pasadena Avenue, 3rd Floor, Pasadena, CA USA 91103, Tel: 1-888-811-4686 (Toll free in the US) or (626) 685-5600, Fax: (626) 685-5601
DIRECTORIES:
Yahoo - one of the oldest directory services on the net, Yahoo went live online in August of 1994. Yahoo was at one time THE favorite of everyone on the net. It is extremely difficult to obtain a listing however, with only around 4% of all submitted sites entering the database, the company was one of the first (along with LookSmart) to introduce paid submissions. 3420 Central Expressway Santa Clara, CA USA 95051 Phone (408) 731-3300 Fax (408) 731-3301
LookSmart - currently lists over 2 million sites in its directory database and provides directory listings for AltaVista, HotBot, Microsoft and over 1000 internet access sellers (ISP's). Recently LookSmart changed from charging a once off listing fee, similar to that charged by Yahoo, to charging its customers 15c every time somebody clicks on their link. They are currently facing a lawsuit in California for breach of contract. 625 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA USA 94107, Tel: 415-348-7000, Fax: 415-348-7050
Open Directory Project - The ODP is a web site directory built by volunteers which holds approximately 1,800,000 sites. The ODP is used by Netscape, Lycos, Hotbot, Altavista, AOL Netfind, Google and a large number of smaller sites. 501 East Middlefield Rd Mountain View, CA USA 94043, Tel: 650 937 3216
SOUTH AFRICAN SEARCH ENGINES:
Ananzi - first created it in early 1996, making it the first South African search engine. In June 2000 it was re-engineered to make it one of the fastest search engines on the Internet. Ananzi currently indexes over 200 000 web pages within Southern Africa. Alongside the search engine, Ananzi's SA Site Directory is a hand-picked category-based list of the best sites South Africa has to offer. 7 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa 2196, Tel: 011 280-0860, Fax: 011 280-0880
Aardvark - named after the uniquely African search animal known for its ability to sniff out tiny ants in large ant heaps? Aardvark was brought on-line by Intekom in February 1997 and uses Google technology for its global search facility, unfortunately the results are not always reliable, with a large number of irrelevant results being returned. 159 Proes Street, Annex Building, Pretoria, 0001, Phone: 082 569-1357, Fax: 012 323-4470
Search Cape Town - recently established search engine for the Cape Town and Western Cape region. Quick response and relevant results make this a most useful local search facility. 10 Sable Street, Goedemoed, Durbanville, Cape Town South Africa
Search Gauteng - another recently established search engine for the Gauteng (Johannesburg - Pretoria ) region. A user friendly, uncluttered search page hides a powerful regional search engine. Suite 109, Newlands Plaza, Newlands, Pretoria, South Africa Phone: 012 348 5320, Fax: 012 361 5576
