Sorting out the wheat from the chaff

Volume 16, Number 6 • June 1999

Sorting out the wheat from the chaff — Take a look at the multimedia features of seven Web-wide search services
by Péter Jacsó

INTERNET INSIGHTS column presents a guide to seven Internet search services, with a focus on searching for image, audio, and video files. Reports that even services that use the same search engine can vary widely in results returned, because of differences in how each customizes the parameters of the engine. Says that HotBot continues to be the best site for multimedia searching, in terms of both tools provided and results returned. Adds that Snap offers nearly identical functionality and produced the highest numbers of results for every test question in all categories. Notes that AltaVista provides the best information about files found, including file format, size, color depth, and duration. Says that Lycos has an excellent presentation mode for its image and audio searches, but does not offer video searching. Adds that Yahoo! is good for multimedia browsing, but disappointing for multimedia searching. Includes seven screen displays.