Structure and Functions of Metasearch Engines

An Evaluative Study

Abstract

The present study systematically examines the structure and functions of metasearch engines (MSEs) viz. Dogpile, Metacrawler, DuckDuckGo and Startpage. Further, it identifies the features and services of four metasearch engines and compares them. A checklist method was used to evaluate the four metasearch engines.These check spots are prepared regarding features and services of metasearch engines. The data were collected between April 1 to June 14, 2021, spending two hours daily. Initially, the data was recorded after accessing each MSE, and later,the data was transferred to MS Excel. The study ascertained that out of 101 check spots, Dogpile scored (66) points, Metacrawler (63), DuckDuckGo (71), and Startpage (59). DuckDuckGo is ranked first among all the four metasearch engines with 70.3 %, followed by Dogpile, Metacrawler, and Startpage respectively. A checklist used in the study contains only 101 check spots to compare the metasearch engines. Further, users’ perception regarding the four metasearch engines is also not covered in the present study. The present study is the first of its kind, which compares four popular metasearch engines using a checklist method. The outcomes of the study shall help research scholars, librarians, information scientists, faculty members, and common masses choose the appropriate metasearch engine. Further, the study shall also help the developers of e-resources in incorporating more features so that users can benefit.