Web searches only turn up a fraction of the relevant documents on the
Web—and many of those links are out of date. Steve Lawrence, at the NEC
Research Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, and his colleagues studied the
performance of six major search engines (Science, vol 280, p 98). The
researchers found that the worst performer, Lycos, only found 3 per cent of the
relevant pages on the Web. The best was HotBot, which turned up 34 per cent of
pages.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Advertorial
The defence sector can’t adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to AI
Advertising
Advertorial
Why the future of defence is drone tech and distributed edge computing
Advertising
Advertorial
The future of defence lies in transatlantic industrial partnerships
Advertising
Advertorial
The biggest defence risk is a lack of integration, not technology
Advertising
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
A quantum state that lasts forever may finally be within our grasp
2
Most portable air conditioners suck – but there's an easy fix
3
Can prebiotics, probiotics or postbiotics help your ageing microbiome?
4
We've found a mysterious substance on Titan and Pluto
5
Faecal transplant makes the brains of old mice act young again
6
The secrets to keeping your brain sharp in old age
7
Autism may have two distinct subtypes that vary by brain activity
8
Oldest known plague outbreak killed hunter-gatherer children
9
Remarkable fossils rewrite the story of how animals conquered the land
10
Technology is changing our perspective on nature – at every scale
