Meta Search Engines & Crawlers

A Meta crawler or search engine doesn't search the web for your topic - instead it gathers responses from other search engines and compiles results from multiple programs. You ask your question once, and essentially get multiple answers back. Depending on the meta program, it may query anywhere from 6 to 20 different search engines. Some meta programs have been around for years, and like all search programs the older ones have evolved and new ones have joined the ranks.

My personal favorite is Vivisimo http://vivisimo.com/ - type in your topic, Vivisimo not only returns your results sorted by relevancy, but also sorts them into folders called "Clustered Results" that organize your search into more specific sub-categories.

http://www.dogpile.com/ Dogpile: All the best search engines piled into one. If you haven't seen this one in awhile, they've really improved the look and results display. You can choose between compiled results or displaying by individual search engines. Dogpile was the #1 meta choice by SearchEngineWatch.com - and it's cute !

http://www.ixquick.com/ Ixquick searches 12 search engines, uses stars to indicate top rankings, and has easy limit or expand features.

http://www.mamma.com/ Founded in 1996, Mamma is one of the oldest meta search engines on the web. Mamma searches against a variety of major crawlers, directories and specialty search sites.

If you want to know more about Meta Searches, take a look at Searchenginewatch.com for articles, ratings, and the latest on finding your way around the web.