Meta Means "Beyond And More Comprehensive"
Written: Aug 19 '00 (Updated Aug 19 '00)
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| Full Review |
That is exactly what Metacrawler is and does. It goes beyond the common list of sites that the others provide, instead offering you the top searches from some of the top search engines on the Internet - all in one simple search. Simply doing a search on one keyword, you will get the results of the top search engines on the Internet today - including AltaVista, Excite, GoTo.com, Infoseek, LookSmart, Lycos, Thunderstone, and WebCrawler - all at one time. Along with your results, you are given a ranking and the appropriate links to expand your search at one of the other top reporting search engines.
Once you have made a search, you are then given the option to expand your search with a few other options such as:
The Metacrawler Directory which is organized similar to Yahoo!,
Audio and MP3 which searches popular audio sites,
Images: which provides many full sized images pertaining to your keyword,
Newsgroups: which searches DejaNews and its archived newsgroup postings,
Auctions: which searches Yahoo!, AuctionAddict, as well as Ebay auction listings,
Doing one search for a simple keyword such as CARS can get me car related websites, songs and MP3's from The Cars and songs with the word cars in it, pictures of many different cars, newsgroup info relating to cars, and auction listings of car related items - all in one place!
This is just the start of the information you can find with this very handy tool. Along with all of this information, you also have access to the open source directory as well as the Ultimate Directory, which will give many resources, but a noted one is the White Pages Directory which will allow you to look up an address or phone number in the US and find out who it belongs to as well as showing you a map to an address and giving you a list of the neighbors around that address.
Another nice feature is the ability to use similar searches, which will give you a list of the keyed searches other people have tried that are similar to yours. This is a big help when you are unsure on exactly how to phrase a search. You can also use the MetaSpy and watch and receive the same searches others are doing at the exact same moment. Real handy if you are bored and are looking for something get your attention.
Being in the computer business, I get many customers frustrated because they cannot locate something they need on the Internet, and upon asking me, I usually give them a result in only a few minutes. My secret is Metacrawler...and I have been using it daily since 1996 back when it was run by the University of Washington. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SEARCH ENGINE TO ANYONE WHO REALLY WANTS TO FIND SOMETHING FAST AND EASILY.
Once in awhile you may come across a dead link or a link that does not pertain to what you are searching for, but this is due to the fact that Metacrawler is not a search engine in and of itself, but rather a search engine of THE SEARCH ENGINES and therefore you are limited to the trash the other sites actually rank and not update regularily. Once it is used a few times, you quickly recognize which results you can rely on. Also, opening your results in a new window is a real timesaver.
Take a moment and play with it once...you'll be hooked...
Recommended:
Yes
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Location: Muskegon, MI
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 1 member
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