# Some search engines much better than others. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-search-engines-much-better-than-others/156436 "2003-02-21T00:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-search-engines-much-better-than-others/156436/1 "2003-02-21T00:23:56Z")
To my dismay I have discovered that I have been using a steaming pile of toss of a search-engine for many years, thinking it was the best one. It was Alta Vista. I now use Google and almost believe google knows what I want even if I don’t type anything. Story… I was idly browsing through the daytime TV on SKY (UK) when I caught the film about Rocky and Bullwinkle. (Not sure of the name, it was probably “Rocky and Bullwinkle”) More importantly than that (and the reason I did something I haven’t done for years, i.e. move quickly to the edge of my seat and say “fucking hell she’s gorgeous!”) I caught [Piper Perabo!](http://www.geocities.com/piper_perabo_page/pictures.htm). Somehow - the way she had slightly over-applied her lipstick (beyond the edges of her lips by half a millimetre) had me mesmerized. (among other things) The first thing I do when I see someone I like on TV is make a mental note to search for websites/pictures of them next time I am on my computer. Well I was on my computer. I did the search using ‘trusty’ Alta Vista. I found a few broken links pages (and the inevitable porn site claiming to have nude pictures of the star in question) and a couple, (exactly a couple - 2) of pages with small and grainy pictures. Eventually I thought to myself - This woman is stunning. There must be more/better websites than these! One of the websites I found using Alta Vista was one of those pointless ones which claim to search a set of links to stars for your star (but which actually just puts your string into a chosen search engine and runs the search) On the list was Google. I knew the name ‘google’ well. I have heard it countless times on the SDMB (and I knew of it anyway) So I thought - what harm can using another search engine do (I was under the impression that most top-notch search engines were equally good at finding websites - so was not optimistic about the results) I used google, and was amazed at the sheer number of websites it found which were _exactly_ what I wanted. (I thought Alta Vista was the best one because I had read an article many years ago that said it was at the top of the list of ‘best search engines’. Turns out things have changed since then!) ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-search-engines-much-better-than-others/156436/2 "2003-02-21T00:34:45Z")
I found Google through a coworker, and it is the best IMO. Jesus saves, but google find the right web page. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-search-engines-much-better-than-others/156436/3 "2003-02-21T02:03:44Z")
Welcome to the world of Google. I would have said that Alta Vista was the best before Google came along. It was my default anyways. Google has ruled the roost for a good couple of years now.