untangling_the_web

DID: 4046925
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Yahoo Search Builder
http://builder.search.yahoo.com/
Yahoo's custom search option requires registration and is very similar to others
create your own search sites. Rollyo predates the Yahoo Search Builder and also
searches the Yahoo database, giving you a good idea of what you can do with this
tool.
Live Search Macros
http://search.live.com/macros/default.aspx
I discuss creating and finding search macros in the section devoted to Microsoft's
Live Search.
Alexa Web Search Platform
http://websearch.alexa.com/welcome.html
What has been for many the holy grail of search is now a big step closer to reality.
With little fanfare, Amazon's Alexa subsidiary announced in December 2005 that it
was opening up its search tools and index to the world in a new project named the
Alexa Web Search Platform (AWSP)-and for a very modest price.
According to its website, 'The Alexa Web Search Platform provides public access to
the vast web crawl collected by Alexa Internet. Users can search and process
billions of documents and even create their own search engines using Alexa's
search and publication tools. Alexa provides compute and storage resources that
allow users to quickly process and store large amounts of web data. Users can view
the results of their processes interactively, transfer the results to their home
machine, or publish them as a new web service."
What exactly is Alexa offering to the user? In essence, Alexa gives the user, whether
an individual or organization, access to the same kind of powerful technology used
by Google, Yahoo, and Live Search. "Alexa spiders 4 billion to 5 billion pages a
month and archives 1 terabyte of data a day. The new platform will allow developers
to build their own search engines." The goal? To democratize web search by taking
it out of the hands of giants like Google and putting it into the hands of literally
anyone and everyone. The implications are enormous. And it appears it is a hit. In
fact, within a very short time of its initial opening, Alexa had to cut off new
applications temporarily because it was overloaded with customers wanting to sign
up for the new service, but the site soon reopened registration.
The Alexa Web Search Platform (AWSP) offers the user the capability to:
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