Search Engines

Web search engines and directories. Top tip: directories (such as UKHelpdesk) list only approved and categorised sites; search engines sneak around in the dead of night to find (far more) sites. With search engines you're never quite sure what you'll find, but with directories you're reliant on the directory builder to have included good sites.

Overture (formerly Goto)	www.uk.overture.com   Rating: 4 Stars
Overture (formerly Goto) review: Overture has taken the Yellow Pages approach to building a search engine - the more the advertiser pays, the more prominent their site. Companies 'buy' keywords, and then pay Overture everytime you click through to the site. So the companies which come up top of the list are likely to be those most confident that you will purchase from their site, and therefore the best. Well, that's the theory anyway. Certainly it does mean that you'll reduce the number of teenage hobby sites you visit.
Ask Jeeves	www.ask.co.uk   Rating: 4 Stars
Ask Jeeves review: So type your plain English questions into this site, and someone, somewhere, types a reply right back at you, directing you to the answer. Well this is premise behind Ask Jeeves, and, for the most part, it seems to work pretty well, and resorts to the search engines above when it can't answers.
Google	www.google.co.uk   Rating: 5 Stars
Google review: This is the most straightforward, easy to use, yet powerful search engine around. Not overwhelmed by advertising and portal-mania. Start here for your web searches.
Lycos	www.lycos.co.uk   Rating: 3 Stars
Lycos review: As seen not so frequently now on TV - the one with the dog. Aside from being a search engine, Lycos also includes webguides, for example to careers and student travel. Overburdened with advertising and a somewhat confusing design.
Yahoo UK	www.yahoo.co.uk   Rating: 4 Stars
Yahoo UK review: One of the earliest and most famous web directories. This is still the number one place to get listed. Exercise some editorial control over which sites get in, but can have a considerable number in the 'once good, now sadly faded' category. Google provides additional search capabilities.
Google Groups	http://groups.google.com   Rating: 4 Stars
Google Groups review: Formerly Deja News. The Usenet (Newsgroups) provides forums for internet users throughout the world to discuss their specialist topics. Through Google Groups you can search for answers, or pose questions if they haven't been asked before. Want to know the best diet for a 12 month old labrador, or the DIP settings for your video card? It'll all be here somewhere.
Altavista	www.altavista.co.uk   Rating: 4 Stars
Altavista review: Combined search engine and web directory, with additional searches for media items (images, video and sound). Also includes a translation tool for English to and from French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Our limited command of these languages indicated a degree of success in translation, but let us know how you get on.