• What are metasearch engines?

- Metasearch engines can command simultaneous searches on other search engines. They allow a user to search multiple search engines simultaneously via a single interface.

- Meta-search engines do not own a database of web pages, they merely act as a middle agent between a user and other search engines. 

• When metasearch engines be used?

- Use them to save time or when having difficulty finding something

- Use them to gain a general overview of all information available on a single subject.

- Do not use them when searching with multiple keywords or a phrase. Most metasearch engines cannot properly process complex searches.  

• How to use them

- In a meta-search engine, type words or short phrases in its search box. The search will be transmitted simultaneously to several individual search engines.

- Results usually come from the entire search engines queried, collated into one list for ease in browsing.

- Boolean operators can also be used to control the results.  Beware that the use of wildcard symbols is inconsistent, it can be * or ?. For more information, see Hints in the table below or, access the use of search engines in search engines. 

• Some popular metasearch engines: