{"id":21250,"date":"2020-01-30T16:09:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T16:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/search-engine"},"modified":"2026-10-02T11:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T11:31:33","slug":"search-engine","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/search-engine","title":{"rendered":"Search Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Search<\/p>\n

Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A search engine<\/strong> is a system that locates information in response to a query. On the web, it discovers documents, processes them into an index and orders the answers it considers most relevant for display on a results page.<\/p>\n

When someone types or speaks a query<\/a>, the search engine does not scan the entire web at that moment. It consults information collected earlier, interprets the search intent and retrieves content that may answer it.<\/p>\n\n

How a search engine works<\/h2>\n

Although each service uses its own technology, web search generally relies on four connected processes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Crawling and discovery.<\/strong> A crawler<\/a> visits known addresses and follows links or sitemaps to find new or updated content.<\/li>\n
  2. Processing and indexing.<\/strong> The system analyses the document’s text, images, language, links and other elements. If the document can be included, it stores a representation in its index<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Retrieval and ranking.<\/strong> When the query arrives, different algorithms<\/a> select candidates and assess signals such as relevance to the search, quality, freshness and the user’s context.<\/li>\n
  4. Presentation.<\/strong> The results page<\/a> may combine links, images, videos, maps, news, direct answers and other formats. Its composition changes with the query.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Crawling a page does not guarantee that it will be indexed, and indexing it does not secure a particular position. These are separate stages of the process.<\/p>\n

    Types of search engines<\/h2>\n

    Search engines do not all cover the same information. Image and video tabs can also be parts of a general search engine rather than independent engines. Three common groups can be distinguished by scope:<\/p>\n