History of the Search Engine

Following the discussion on Monday about recent trends on the internet and about how search engines work, I began to think fondly of my early years in undergrad using my first computer. At that time I was using word perfect, works, lotus 1-2-3, and a great little well know search engine called AltaVista. Check it out, it still works great! I couldn't quite remember its exact layout so I checked it out on the Wayback Machine. Amazingly, they were/are the pioneers of Google's success. They started out with a very simple design, not all that uncommon from Google, then progressed to a Yahoo/MSN clone, then back to thier current form, Google clone. However, it should be noted, they are more like they were originally and that's what Google had capitalized on.

I found a great site on the history of search engines and how it all began. Apparently, AltaVista was the first site to use natural language inquiries. Maybe that was why I like it so much, I'd just started using a computer besides playing SimCity :)

Side Topic: Check out the video used to recruit MBA's to work at Phillip Morris in 1995.