First, a look at how it works. Search engines use automated software programs that scrutinize the Web and develop their informational databases. Statistics composed from each web page are then added to the search engine index. After you enter a question into a search engine site, your input is compared to the search engine’s index of all the web pages it has analyzed. The best links are then returned to you as hits, ranked in order with the best results listed first. This is based upon how relevant they are to your query, and which sites rank highest by visits and keyword saturation. Most search engines will look for words and simple phrases. The more common a word is on a page, compared with its rate of recurrence in the general language, the more likely that page will be to appear among the search results, and at what position. Search engines are also making significant strides in an effort to “comprehend” what is intended by the query words. For instance, a good number of search engines now offer elective spelling adjustment. If you type in a word, and it is possibly misspelled, the engine will actually ask you if you meant to spell it that way and offer alternatives. Some are even able to search not simply for the words or phrases actually entered, but they also search for different forms of the words (home, house, residence, domicile, etc.) This brings us to Google, the most often/easily used search engine available today. There are many very significant reasons for it’s popularity, and it has definitely earned its place as leader of the pack. It utilizes a simple interface, excellent search options, and incredible visual tools to provide us with everything we need for working, learning, or simply playing games on the Internet. Google also provides quite a few products that help individuals and businesses, such as AdSense, YouTube, GoogleEarth, and many more desktop and web search utilities. One important key to why they do so well is because Google assesses the importance of every web page using a variety of techniques, together with its patented “PageRank” algorithm which analyzes those sites that have been “voted” the best sources of information by other pages across the Web. This method actually improves itself, as the Web expands, as each new site is another aspect of information and another vote to be counted. It depends on the millions of people posting and visiting links on websites to help establish which sites offer the most valuable content. The Google phenomenon originated when two young men, who had nothing in common, except a desire to make finding information on the Internet simpler, started the Google Empire. The idea was born in 1995, and its earliest name was Backrub, because this brand new search engine utilized the back links available for finding web sites. After being turned away by a few of the major players in the industry, the guys decided to make a go of it on their own. With a little help from a friend, “Google” opened its first door, a garage door, in 1998. By 1999, Google.com was providing answers to over 10,000 search questions daily. The company diversified and expanded greatly as the new millennium started. The hiring of quite a few talented staff members, (who had left stable jobs with well-established internet companies like Yahoo) to join the Google team created a need for actual office space and so the Googleplex became the company’s headquarters in 2003. Today, the corporation has offices around the world. There are a vast number of alternative search engines, and many of them have been around a lot longer. In fact, there are quite a few that are better suited for particular businesses due to the fact that they are geared more toward specific needs that they focus all of their efforts upon. Any type of profession or hobby that you can name, each has a niche on the Internet. Harnessing the resources available through Search Engine Optimization helps to encourage the growth and expansion of businesses that use the web.