Search Engines

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?

Early search engines ranked pages based on page contents, formatting and based on the content of metadata tags. However when Google arrived it ranks by how frequently other sites link to you, not by what you do or don't say on your site. (http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/misc/searchworks.html)

Who, or what, makes one page more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?

If you're searching diabetes and the word diabetes comes up over and over then it is likely this would be at the top of the list as well as how many hits it has gotten. (http://www.monash.com/spidap4.html)

What are some of your favourite search engines? Why do you like one more than others?

My favourite search engine is Google as it is precise and easy. It shows up much more then yahoo or ask which I used earlier in the scavenger hunt. I just think it's the most dependable search engine.