Editing World Wide Web (section)

===Search engine===
{{main|Search engine}}
[[File:Mayflower Wikimedia Commons image search engine screenshot.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The results of a search for the term "lunar eclipse" in a web-based [[image search]] engine]]
A ''web search engine'' or ''Internet search engine'' is a [[software system]] that is designed to carry out ''web search'' (''Internet search''), which means to search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a [[web search query]]. The search results are generally presented in a line of results, often referred to as [[search engine results page]]s (SERPs). The information may be a mix of [[web page]]s, images, videos, infographics, articles, research papers, and other types of files. Some search engines also [[data mining|mine data]] available in [[database]]s or [[web directory|open directories]]. Unlike [[web directories]], which are maintained only by human editors, search engines also maintain [[real-time computing|real-time]] information by running an [[algorithm]] on a [[web crawler]]. Internet content that is not capable of being searched by a web search engine is generally described as the [[deep web]].

In 1990, [[Archie (search engine)|Archie]], the world's first search engine, was released. The technology was originally an index of [[File Transfer Protocol]] (FTP) sites, which was a method for moving files between a client and a server network.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Jennimai |date=2020-09-10 |title=Archie, the very first search engine, was released 30 years ago today |url=https://mashable.com/article/first-search-engine-archie?test_uuid=01iI2GpryXngy77uIpA3Y4B&test_variant=b |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Mashable |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What is File Transfer Protocol (FTP) meaning |url=https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/file-transfer-protocol-ftp-meaning |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=Fortinet |language=en |archive-date=26 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126193905/https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/file-transfer-protocol-ftp-meaning |url-status=live }}</ref> This early search tool was superseded by more advanced engines like [[Yahoo!]] in 1995 and [[Google Search|Google]] in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-04 |title=Britannica Money |url=https://money.britannica.com/money/Google-Inc |access-date=2025-02-04 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=27 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727122207/https://money.britannica.com/money/Google-Inc |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Clark |first=Andrew |date=2008-02-01 |title=How Jerry's guide to the world wide web became Yahoo |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/feb/01/microsoft.technology |access-date=2025-02-04 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005052548/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/feb/01/microsoft.technology |url-status=live }}</ref>