Hybrid Web search
It quickly became obvious that a combination of these two basic models of Web search would be tremendously powerful and today's successful Web search services all employ both methods in some fashion as technological hybrids. Typical implementation of hybrid results will display directory matches in primary ranking positions and secondary "fall-through" matches from spider-based sources as a catchall. A revolution became apparent by the time 1994 came to an end, with unprecedented numbers of Web users surfing the Internet primarily using search services as a starting point. Everyone using these Web search services began referring to them as "search engines" whatever underlying prominent technology was being used.
Later, some Web sites that initially began as search engines thought to provide additional Web based services such as free Email, news and entertainment. Some of those that moved towards becoming a Web "portal" lost sight of the fundamental reason for their existence: Web search. This proved to be an ill-fated choice for some. Yahoo! is one lucky exception having begun life as "Jerry's Guide to the Internet" and is viewed today as a real McCoy Web portal.
Google, focusing solely on Web search through the year 2001, saw a tremendous growth in popularity while others declined. Examples of the consequences that can happen to a search service when it loses sight of Web search in the pursuit of portaldom, (and its related advertising revenue), include Disney, which eventually decided to pull GO/InfoSeek out of the market; NBC, who did the same with NBCi; and AltaVista. Initially known for pure search, AltaVista made a series of tentative steps toward portaldom and attempted to offer free Internet access among other things. AltaVista began losing huge portions of its search audience while Google curiously made gains of market share in near equal amounts. As it wavered and began to withdraw its failed portal services, this retreat came too late for AltaVista. Offering only simple and pure search Google reversed the tide on them.
Danny Sullivan: "The Google story is also amazing when compared to the decline of AltaVista. In many ways, AltaVista enjoyed the same initial popularity that Google now receives. It was seen as a "pure" search service that people could depend on when other search engines pursued the "portal" route. The chart below illustrates how clearly Google has risen while AltaVista has fallen." Search Engine Watch
The innovations and failures that occur in the search space make it a complex task just to report on it. The changing landscape of search engines would make this guide quickly useless if it contained detailed information about particular Web search engines and how they operate. AltaVista has not filed chapter 11, and may yet recover to become tomorrow's powerhouse.
One thing is certain, if you want your Web site to appear in the most popular places on the Web, then promoting your site visibility in search engines is a great place to start. The PositionPro™ eGuide to Web Site Visibility is designed to serve readers by making global statements about site promotion and search engine technology by simply referencing current information at a Companion Web Site.