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{{History of computing}}This page provides a full '''timeline of web search engines''', starting from the [[wikipedia:Archie search engine|Archie search engine]] in 1990. It is complementary to the [[wikipedia:history of web search engines|history of web search engines]] page that provides more qualitative detail on the history. == Sample questions == The following are some interesting questions that can be answered by reading this timeline:  * What are some historically significant search engines and when were they launched?** Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Search engine launch".** You will see the launch of search engines, notable for their historical importance like {{w|WebCrawler}}, or by their magnitude, like {{w|Google}} and {{w|Yahoo!}}. * What are some significant events illustrating the evolution of {{w|internet search}}?** Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Search evolution".** You will see the evolution of internet search toward {{w|mobile search}}, and the envisage of future mainstream search toward [[w:voice search|voice]].* What are some numbers illustrating the evolution of search engine?** Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Statistics".** For internet userbase evolution, sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Statistics (internet userbase)". ==Big picture== {| class="wikitable"! Time period !! Development summary !! More details|-| || Pre-web search engine period |||-| || web search engine period |||- | || Google period |||-|}

| 1945 || || Concept development || American engineer {{w|Vannevar Bush}} introduces the concept of “collection of data and observations, the extraction of parallel material from the existing record, and the final insertion of new material into the general body of the common record.”<ref name="amcodigital.com">{{cite web |title=THE HISTORY OF SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) |url=https://www.amcodigital.com/history-of-seo/ |website=amcodigital.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref> Bush emphasizes the necessity for an expansive index for all knowledge, stating: "[Information] has been extended far beyond our present ability to make real use of the record. A record, if it is to be useful to science, must be continuously extended, it must be stored...Our ineptitude in getting at the record is largely caused by the artificiality of the systems of indexing. The human mind does not work this way. It operates by association."<ref name="whatisseo.comd">{{cite web |title=History of Search Engines |url=https://www.whatisseo.com/history-of-search-engines.html |website=whatisseo.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pariser |first1=Eli |title=The Filter Bubble: What The Internet Is Hiding From You |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=-FWO0puw3nYC&pg=PT165&dq=vannevar+bush+1945+collection+of+data&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnm735idToAhXtIbkGHfNICPgQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=vannevar%20bush%201945%20collection%20of%20data&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Gary |last2=Benke |first2=Meg |last3=Chaloux |first3=Bruce |last4=Ragan |first4=Lawrence C. |last5=Schroeder |first5=Raymond |last6=Smutz |first6=Wayne |last7=Swan |first7=Karen |title=Leading the e-Learning Transformation of Higher Education: Meeting the Challenges of Technology and Distance Education |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=6jeFAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84&dq=vannevar+bush+1945+collection+of+data&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnm735idToAhXtIbkGHfNICPgQ6AEISjAE#v=onepage&q=vannevar%20bush%201945%20collection%20of%20data&f=false}}</ref> |-| 1987 || || Pre-web search engine || Search engine [[w:Archie (search engine)|Archie]] begins as a project for students and staff at {{w|McGill University}}, with aims to connect the McGill University School of Computer Science to the internet.<ref name="tellmeyourgoal.coms">{{cite web |title=The History of Search Engine Optimization |url=https://www.tellmeyourgoal.com/the-history-of-search-engine-optimization |website=tellmeyourgoal.com |accessdate=10 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ARCHIE SEARCH ENGINE FROM MCGILL UNIVERSITY |url=http://www.historyofdomainnames.com/archie/ |website=historyofdomainnames.com |accessdate=6 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ARCHIE SEARCH ENGINE |url=http://community.worldheritage.org/articles/eng/Archie_search_engine |website=worldheritage.org |accessdate=6 April 2020}}</ref> |-| 1990 || || Pre-web search engine || The [[wikipedia:Archie search engine|Archie search engine]], created by [[wikipedia:Alan Emtage|Alan Emtage]], Bill Heelan and J. Peter Deutsch, computer science students at [[wikipedia:McGill University|McGill University]] in [[wikipedia:Montreal|Montreal]], goes live. The program downloads the directory listings of all the files located on public anonymous FTP ([[wikipedia:File Transfer Protocol|File Transfer Protocol]]) sites, creates a searchable database of a lot of file names; however, Archie does not index the contents of these sites since the amount of data is so limited it can be readily searched manually.<ref>{{ cite web | title = The First Search Engine, Archie | url = http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/~chip/projects/timeline/1990archie.htm | accessdate = 2007-05-26 | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070621141150/http://isrl.uiuc.edu/~chip/projects/timeline/1990archie.htm| archivedate= 21 June 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | title = In Russian: History of the Internet. The First Search Engine | url = http://www.xserver.ru/computer/nets/internet/196/ | accessdate = 2012-02-23 }}</ref><ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh>{{cite web|url=http://www.wordstream.com/articles/internet-search-engines-history|title = History of Search Engines - Chronological List of Internet Search Engines|accessdate = February 3, 2014}}</ref>|-| 1991 || || Pre-web search engine || The rise of [[wikipedia:Gopher (protocol)|Gopher]] (created in 1991 by [[wikipedia:Mark McCahill|Mark McCahill]] at the [[wikipedia:University of Minnesota|University of Minnesota]]) leads to two new search programs, [[wikipedia:Veronica (computer)|Veronica]] and [[wikipedia:Jughead (computer)|Jughead]]. Like Archie, they search the file names and titles stored in Gopher index systems. Veronica (''V''ery ''E''asy ''R''odent-''O''riented ''N''et-wide ''I''ndex to ''C''omputerized ''A''rchives) provides a keyword search of most Gopher menu titles in the entire Gopher listings. Jughead (''J''onzy's ''U''niversal ''G''opher ''H''ierarchy ''E''xcavation ''A''nd ''D''isplay) is a tool for obtaining menu information from specific Gopher servers. While the name of the search engine "Archie" was not a reference to the [[wikipedia:Archie Comics|Archie comic book]] series, "[[wikipedia:Veronica Lodge|Veronica]]" and "[[wikipedia:Jughead Jones|Jughead]]" are characters in the series, thus referencing their predecessor.<ref name=seh>{{Cite web|url=http://www.searchenginehistory.com/|title = Search Engine History|accessdate = February 3, 2014}}</ref> Gopher is considered to be the first search engine using a hypertext paradigm.<ref name="thehistoryofseo.com">{{cite web |title=The History of Search Engine Optimization |url=http://www.thehistoryofseo.com/The-Industry/The_History_of_Search_Engine_Optimization.aspx|website=thehistoryofseo.com |accessdate=6 January 2020}}</ref> A step toward the {{w|World Wide Web}} hypertext transfer protocol ({{w|HTTP}}), it would become popular for several years, because it provides a way to share text files from all over the world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kent |first1=Allen |title=Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 71 - Supplement 34 |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=saa39p6C538C&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=%22Gopher+was+a%22&source=bl&ots=qVqIqoC2jc&sig=ACfU3U0DyZVfruHDKqZWjJ42nsJ3rRX2rg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlrIa43ovpAhWnKrkGHSrqCWwQ6AEwDHoECAwQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Gopher%20was%20a%22&f=false}}</ref> |-| 1991 || || || English computer scientist {{w|Tim Berners-Lee}} in {{w|Geneva}} launches his WWW Virtual Library <code>vlib.org</code>. It is considered the oldest catalog on the [[w:World Wide Web|Web]].<ref name="wordstream.come">{{cite web |title=THE HISTORY OF SEARCH ENGINES |url=https://www.wordstream.com/articles/internet-search-engines-history |website=wordstream.com |accessdate=7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Van Rys |first1=John |last2=Meyer |first2=Verne |last3=Sebranek |first3=Patrick |title=The Research Writer, Spiral bound Version |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=g4HP5TIs2-cC&pg=PA84&dq=Tim+Berners-Lee+set+up+a+Virtual+Library+%221991%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2l_vUlNToAhXTILkGHRNVD5IQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Tim%20Berners-Lee%20set%20up%20a%20Virtual%20Library%20%221991%22&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Scheeren |first1=William O. |title=The Hidden Web: A Sourcebook |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=KgTqbPXQqroC&pg=PA46&dq=Tim+Berners-Lee+set+up+a+Virtual+Library+%221991%22+vlib.org&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCgvDOltToAhWNI7kGHTwQCDIQ6AEIMzAB#v=onepage&q=Tim%20Berners-Lee%20set%20up%20a%20Virtual%20Library%20%221991%22%20vlib.org&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tortosa |first1=Virgilio |title=Escrituras digitales: tecnologías de la creación en la era virtual |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=5UF-g_q2rqQC&pg=PA179&dq=Tim+Berners-Lee+set+up+a+Virtual+Library+%221991%22+vlib.org&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCgvDOltToAhWNI7kGHTwQCDIQ6AEIPDAC#v=onepage&q=Tim%20Berners-Lee%20set%20up%20a%20Virtual%20Library%20%221991%22%20vlib.org&f=false}}</ref> |-| 1992 || || Virtual library of the web || [[wikipedia:Timothy Berners-Lee|Timothy Berners-Lee]] sets up the [[wikipedia:Virtual Library|Virtual Library]] (VLib), a loose confederation of topical experts maintaining relevant topical link lists.<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/>|-| 1993 || February || Early development || Six Stanford students create Architext, a project seeking to use statistical analysis of word relationships to improve relevancy of searches on the Internet. Architext would later become the search engine {{w|Excite}}.<ref name="thehistoryofseo.com"/> Excite would revolutionize how information is categorized, making it easier to find information “by sorting results based on keywords found within content and backend optimization.”<ref name="A Brief History of Search & SEO">{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Search & SEO |url=https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/a-brief-history-of-search-seo |website=blog.hubspot.com |accessdate=6 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="bluefrogdm.coms"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Livingston |first1=Jessica |title=Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=ktm885vGIXEC&pg=PA61&dq=%22architext%22+%221993%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiWiPeJsdToAhXPFbkGHU-sCR4Q6AEIPzAD#v=onepage&q=%22architext%22%20%221993%22&f=false}}</ref>

| 1991 1993 || April 22 || Pre-web search engine || The rise of graphical Mosaic web browser improves [[w:Gopher (protocol)|Gopher]] (created in 1991 by [[Mark McCahill]] at the [[University of Minnesota]]) leads to two new search programs, [[Veronica (computer)|Veronica]] and [[Jughead (computer)|Jughead]]. Like Archie, they search the file names and titles stored in Gopher index systems. Veronica (''V''ery ''E''asy ''R''odent’s primarily text-''O''riented ''N''et-wide ''I''ndex to ''C''omputerized ''A''rchives) provides a keyword search of most Gopher menu titles in the entire Gopher listingsbased interface. Jughead (''J''onzy's ''U''niversal ''G''opher ''H''ierarchy ''E''xcavation ''A''nd ''D''isplay) is a tool for obtaining menu information from specific Gopher servers. While the <ref name of the search engine ="Archiethehistoryofseo.com" was not a reference to /> Mosaic is considered the [[Archie Comics|Archie comic book]] series, "[[Veronica Lodge|Veronica]]" and "[[Jughead Jones|Jughead]]" are characters in the series, thus referencing their predecessorfirst popular graphical web browser.<ref name=seh>{{Cite cite web |title=Happy birthday, Mosaic: 20 years of the graphical webbrowser |url=httphttps://www.searchenginehistoryzdnet.com/article/happy-birthday-mosaic-20-years-of-the-graphical-web-browser/|title website= Search Engine Historyzdnet.com |accessdate = February 3, 201428 June 2020}}</ref>

| 1992 1993 || June || Virtual library of the web Early development ||Matthew Gray at {{w| [[Timothy Berners-Lee]] sets up MIT}} develops the [[Virtual Library]] (VLib){{w|World Wide Web Wanderer}}, a loose confederation which is considered the first web crawler to measure the size of topical experts maintaining relevant topical link liststhe Web.<ref name=seh"A Brief History of Search & SEO"/><ref name=internetseh"wordstream.come"/><ref name="seo.comf"/>

| 1993 || June || First [[wikipedia:web robot|web robot]] || [[wikipedia:Matthew K. Gray|Matthew Gray]] produces the first known [[wikipedia:web robot|web robot]], the [[wikipedia:Perl|Perl]]-based [[wikipedia:World Wide Web Wanderer|World Wide Web Wanderer]], and uses it to generate an index of the web called the Wandex.<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mit.edu/~mkgray/net/background.html|title = Internet Growth and Statistics: Credit and Background|last = Gray|first = Matthew|accessdate = February 3, 2014}}</ref> However, the World Wide Web Wanderer is intended only to measure the size of the web rather than to facilitate search.

| 1993 || September 2 || First web search engine || [[wikipedia:W3Catalog|W3Catalog]], written by [[wikipedia:Oscar Nierstrasz|Oscar Nierstrasz]] at the [[wikipedia:University of Geneva|University of Geneva]], is released to the world. It is the world's first web search engine. It does not rely on a crawler and indexer but rather on already existing high-quality lists of websites. One of its main drawbacks is that the bot accesses each page hundreds of times each day, causing performance degradation.<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/><ref name="history">{{cite web |url=http://scg.unibe.ch/archive/software/w3catalog/|title=W3 Catalog History}}</ref><ref name="virtual">{{cite web|url=http://www-ksl.stanford.edu/people/gruber/virtual-documents-htw/|title=Virtual documents that explain How Things Work: Dynamically generated question-answering documents|author=Thomas R. Gruber, Sunil Vemuri and James Rice|date=December 1995|publisher=Knowledge Systems Laboratory, Stanford University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=First Search Engine |url=https://thisdayintechhistory.com/09/02/first-search-engine/|website=thisdayintechhistory.com |accessdate=10 April 2020}}</ref>

| 1993 || October/November || Second web search engine || [[wikipedia:Aliweb|Aliweb]], a web search engine created by [[wikipedia:Martijn Koster|Martijn Koster]], is announced. It does not use a web robot, but instead depends on being notified by website administrators of the existence at each site of an index file in a particular format. The absence of a bot means that less bandwidth is used; however, most website administrators are not aware of the need to submit their data.<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Maze |first1=Susan |last2=Moxley |first2=David |last3=Smith |first3=Donna J. |title=Authoritative Guide to Web Search Engines |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=ZkxqAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Aliweb%22+%221993%22&dq=%22Aliweb%22+%221993%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUwJaDttToAhUiHbkGHb6JDMsQ6AEIYzAH}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Auxiliar Administrativo. Servicio Canario de Salud. SCS. Temario Vol. II. |edition=Editorial CEP |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=7y-xDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA326&dq=%22Aliweb%22+%221993%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUwJaDttToAhUiHbkGHb6JDMsQ6AEIODAC#v=onepage&q=%22Aliweb%22%20%221993%22&f=false}}</ref><ref name="ddd">{{cite book |title=Enhancing the Power of the Internet |edition=Masoud Nikravesh, Ben Azvine, Ronald R. Yager, Lofti A. Zadeh |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=R2f8CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17&dq=%22Aliweb%22+%221993%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUwJaDttToAhUiHbkGHb6JDMsQ6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=%22Aliweb%22%20%221993%22&f=false}}</ref>

| 1993 || December || First web search engine to use a crawler and indexer || [[wikipedia:JumpStation|JumpStation]], created by [[wikipedia:Jonathon Fletcher|Jonathon Fletcher]], is released. It is the first WWW resource-discovery tool to combine the three essential features of a web search engine (crawling, indexing, and searching).<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2009/03/15/why-we-nearly-mcgoogled-it-545208/|title = Why we nearly McGoogled it|date = March 15, 2009|accessdate = February 3, 2014|publisher = ''Metro''}}</ref>

| 1994 1993 || January || New web search engine Statistics || [[Infoseek]] is launchedThere are approximately 600 websites online at the time.<ref name=seh"seo.comf"/><ref name=internetseh"William R."/> |- | 1993 || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The are about 10 million internet users at the time.<ref name="seo.comf"/>

| 1994 || January || Web search Search engine supporting natural language queries launch || {{w|Stanford University}} students {{w|Jerry Wang}} and {{w| [[Altavista]] is launchedDavid Filo}} create {{w|Yahoo!}} in a campus trailer. This is Yahoo starts originally as an Internet bookmark list and directory of interesting sites. Webmasters have to manually submit their page to the Yahoo directory for indexing so that it would be there for Yahoo to find when someone performed a first among web search engines in many ways.<ref>{{cite book |last1=So |first1=Shermon |last2=Westland |first2=J.Christopher |title=Red Wired: China’s Internet revolution |url=https: it has unlimited bandwidth, allows natural language queries, has search tips, //books.google.com.ar/books?id=vbqIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=%22yahoo%22+%221994%22+%22wang%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidqce2vtToAhX4HLkGHcw-BL4Q6AEIVDAF#v=onepage&q=%22yahoo%22%20%221994%22%20%22wang%22&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Huff |first1=Priscilla Y |title=Business and allows people to add or delete their domains in 24 hoursIndustry |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=mywYAAAAIAAJ&q=%22yahoo%22+%221994%22+%22wang%22+%22filo%22&dq=%22yahoo%22+%221994%22+%22wang%22+%22filo%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNs-HSvtToAhWNErkGHVkZBGkQ6AEIKDAA}}</ref><ref name=seh"20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name=internetseh"wordstream.come"/>

| 1994 || March January || New web search engine || The [[World-Wide Web Wormwikipedia:Infoseek|Infoseek]] is released. It is claimed to have been created in September 1993, at which time there did not exist any crawler-based search engine, but it is not the earliest at the time of its actual release. It supports [[Perl]]-based regular expressionslaunched.<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/>

| 1994 || April 20 January || New web Web search engine supporting natural language queries || The [[WebCrawlerwikipedia:Altavista|Altavista]] is launched. This is a first among web search engineengines in many ways: it has unlimited bandwidth, allows natural language queries, created by Brian Pinkerton at the [[University of Washington]]has search tips, is releasedand allows people to add or delete their domains in 24 hours.<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/> Unlike its predecessors, it allows users to search for any word in any webpage, which has become the standard for all major search engines since.

| 1994 || April March || New web directory search engine || The [[Yahoo!wikipedia:World-Wide Web Worm|World-Wide Web Worm]] launches is released. It is claimed to have been created in September 1993, at which time there did not exist any crawler-based search engine, but it is not the earliest at the time of its web directoryactual release. It supports [[wikipedia:Perl|Perl]]-based regular expressions.<ref name=seh/><ref name=internetseh/> Yahoo! would not build its own web search engine until 2002, relying until then on outsourcing the search function to other companies.

| 1994 || July April 20 || New web search engine || The [[Lycoswikipedia:WebCrawler|WebCrawler]], a web search engine, created by Brian Pinkerton at the [[wikipedia:University of Washington|University of Washington]], is released.<ref name=internetseh/> It began as a research project by [[Michael Loren Mauldin]] of [[Carnegie Mellon University|Carnegie Mellon University's]] main [[Pittsburgh]] campusUnlike its predecessors, it allows users to search for any word in any webpage, which has become the standard for all major search engines since.

| 1995 1994 || April || New web directory || [[LookSmartwikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]] is releasedlaunches its web directory. It competes with [[<ref name=internetseh/> Yahoo!]] as a would not build its own web directorysearch engine until 2002, and relying until then on outsourcing the competition makes both directories more inclusivesearch function to other companies.

| 1996 1994 || January–MarchJuly || New web search engine || [[Larry Pagewikipedia:Lycos|Lycos]] and , a web search engine, is released.<ref name=internetseh/> It began as a research project by [[Sergey Brinwikipedia:Michael Loren Mauldin|Michael Loren Mauldin]] begin working on of [[BackRubwikipedia:Carnegie Mellon University|Carnegie Mellon University's]], the predecessor to main [[Google Searchwikipedia:Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh]]campus. The crawler begins activity in March.<ref name=internetseh/>

| 1996 1994 || May || New web search engine Statistics || [[Inktomi]] releases its [[HotBot]] search engineThe number of websites grows to 10,000, up from 600 websites in 1993.<ref name=internetseh"William R."/>

| 1997 1995 || April || New natural language-based web search engine directory || [[Ask Jeeveswikipedia:LookSmart|LookSmart]], a natural language web search engine, that aims to rank links by popularity, is released. It would later become competes with [[Ask.com]].<ref name=internetseh/><ref name=official-google-history>{{cite web|url=httpswikipedia://www.google.com/about/company/history/|title = Our history in depthYahoo!|publisher = [[GoogleYahoo!]]|date = September 15as a web directory, 1997|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref>and the competition makes both directories more inclusive.

| 1995 || Late year || Search engine launch || {{w|Excite}} is commercially released as a crawling search engine.<ref name="thehistoryofseo.com"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=DESAI |first1=SANDEEP |last2=SRIVASTAVA |first2=ABHISHEK |title=SOFTWARE TESTING : A Practical Approach |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=B4sQDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA280&dq=Excite+1995&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibwo7-pNToAhVFE7kGHU08B3kQ6AEIQjAD#v=onepage&q=Excite%201995&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Comm |first1=Joel |title=Click Here to Order: Stories of the World's Most Successful Internet Marketing Entrepreneurs |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=YkEdWYvuUk8C&pg=PA263&dq=Excite+1995&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibwo7-pNToAhVFE7kGHU08B3kQ6AEIUjAF#v=onepage&q=Excite%201995&f=false}}</ref>|-| 1995 || || Statistics || The number of websites grows to 100,000, up from 10,000 websites in 1994.<ref name="William R."/> |-| 1996 || January–March || Search engine launch || {{w|Stanford University}} students {{w|Larry Page}} and {{w|Sergey Brin}} build and test [[w:BackRub (search engine)|Backrub]], a new search engine that ranks sites based on inbound link relevancy and popularity. The crawler begins activity in March.<ref name=internetseh/> Backrub would ultimately become {{w|Google}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breverton |first1=Terry |title=Breverton's Encyclopedia of Inventions: A Compendium of Technological Leaps, Groundbreaking Discoveries and Scientific Breakthroughs that Changed the World |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=VepgBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT559&dq=backrub+1996&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSo8P3qNToAhVUDrkGHd4jBoYQ6AEIMTAB#v=onepage&q=backrub%201996&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=MIRANDA GONZALEZ |first1=FRANCISCO JAVIER |last2=RUBIO LACOBA |first2=SERGIO |last3=CHAMORRO MERA |first3=ANTONIO |title=Dirección de operaciones. Casos prácticos y recursos didácticos |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=N9r7CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA105&dq=backrub+1996&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSo8P3qNToAhVUDrkGHd4jBoYQ6AEIQzAD#v=onepage&q=backrub%201996&f=false}}</ref><ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="seo.comf"/> |-| 1996 || May || New web search engine || [[wikipedia:Inktomi|Inktomi]] releases its [[wikipedia:HotBot|HotBot]] search engine.<ref name=internetseh/><ref name="tellmeyourgoal.coms"/> |-| 1996 || || Statistics || The number of websites grows to 650,000, up from 100,000 websites in 1995.<ref name="seo.comf"/><ref name="William R."/> |-| 1996 || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The are about 74 million internet users at this time.<ref name="seo.comf"/> |-| 1996 || || || A search engine called "{{w|RankDex}}" from IDD Information Services, designed by {{w|Robin Li}}, launches, providing a strategy for site-scoring and page-ranking.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Li |first= Yanhong |date= August 6, 2002 |title= Toward a qualitative search engine |journal=IEEE Internet Computing |volume= 2 |issue= 4 |pages= 24–29 |doi= 10.1109/4236.707687}}</ref>|-| 1997 || April || New natural language-based web search engine || [[wikipedia:Ask Jeeves|Ask Jeeves]], a natural language web search engine, that aims to rank links by popularity, is released. It would later become [[wikipedia:Ask.com|Ask.com]].<ref name=internetseh/><ref name=official-google-history>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/about/company/history/|title = Our history in depth|publisher = [[wikipedia:Google|Google]]|date = September 15, 1997|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sajja |first1=Priti Srinivas |last2=Akerkar |first2=Rajendra |title=Intelligent Technologies for Web Applications |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=f_7RBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA88&dq=%22Ask+Jeeves%22+%22in+1997%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj35ryevNToAhXYCrkGHfJmD80Q6AEIMDAB#v=onepage&q=%22Ask%20Jeeves%22%20%22in%201997%22&f=false}}</ref> AskJeeves later becomes [[w:Ask.com|<code>ask.com</code>]].<ref name="seo.comf"/><ref name="tellmeyourgoal.coms"/><ref name="ddd"/> |-| 1998 || July–September || New web search portal || [[wikipedia:MSN|MSN]] launches a search portal called MSN Search, using search results from [[wikipedia:Inktomi|Inktomi]]. After many changes to the backend search engine, MSN would start developing in-house search technology in 2005, and later change its name to [[wikipedia:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] in June 2009.

| 1997 || September 23 || New web search engine (non-English) || [[wikipedia:Arkady Volozh|Arkady Volozh]] and [[wikipedia:Ilya Segalovich|Ilya Segalovich]] launch their [[wikipedia:Russian (language)|Russian]] web search engine yandex.ru and publicly present it at the Softool exhibition in Moscow. The initial development is by Comptek; Yandex would become a separate company in 2000.<ref name="yandexcomhistory">[http://company.yandex.com/general_info/history.xml About Yandex &mdash; History of Yandex]. Retrieved May 24, 2011. [http://www.webcitation.org/5yvl8XgIr Archived copy].</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Hidden Champions in CEE and Turkey: Carving Out a Global Niche |edition=Peter McKiernan, Danica Purg |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=PGi4BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA300&lpg=PA300&dq=%22Yandex+Search%22+%22september+23%22&source=bl&ots=1fQcDh-YcJ&sig=ACfU3U0WxatvZ4q6wbel4tAr59N4KAbUWQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZxYvk1ovpAhWQGbkGHVBvCWYQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Yandex%20Search%22%20%22september%2023%22&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnsen |first1=Maria |title=Multilingual Digital Marketing: Become The Market Leader |url=https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=vjOMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=%22Yandex+Search%22+%22september+23%22&source=bl&ots=8YgZ-E7AaI&sig=ACfU3U13sMAd0kRIllCx0hKkNrHo-mZcTQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZxYvk1ovpAhWQGbkGHVBvCWYQ6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Yandex%20Search%22%20%22september%2023%22&f=false}}</ref> It is Russia’s largest search engine.<ref name="seo.comf"/> |-| 1997 || || Statistics || The number of websites surpasses 1,000,000, up from 650,000 websites in 1996.<ref name="William R."/><ref name="seo.comf"/> |-| 1998 || June 5 || New web directory || Gnuhoo, a web directory project by [[wikipedia:Rich Skrenta|Rich Skrenta]] and [[wikipedia:Bob Truel|Bob Truel]], both employees of [[wikipedia:Sun Microsystems|Sun Microsystems]], launches.<ref name=internetseh/><ref name="SlashdotGnuhoo">{{cite web|url=http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=98/06/23/0849239| accessdate = April 27, 2007|work=[[wikipedia:Slashdot|Slashdot]] | title=The GnuHoo BooBoo}}</ref> It would later be renamed the [[wikipedia:Open Directory Project|Open Directory Project]].|-| 1998 || || Search engine launch || [[w:Yahoo! Gemini|Goto.com]] launches with sponsored links and paid search. Advertisers bid on Goto.com to rank above organic search results, which are powered by {{w|Inktomi}}. Goto.com would be ultimately acquired by {{w|Yahoo!}}.<ref name="20 Years of SEO: A Brief History of Search Engine Optimization"/><ref name="amcodigital.com"/> |-| 1999 || May || New web search engine || [[wikipedia:AlltheWeb|AlltheWeb]], based on the Ph.D. thesis of Tor Egge at the [[wikipedia:Norwegian University of Science and Technology|Norwegian University of Science and Technology]], titled ''FTP Search'', launches. The engine is launched by Egge's company [[wikipedia:Fast Search & Transfer|Fast Search & Transfer]], established on July 16, 1997.<ref name=internetseh/>|-| 1999 || || Statistics || The number of websites online reaches 2.2 million.<ref name="seo.comf"/> |-| 1999 || || Statistics (internet userbase) || The number of internet users reaches 279 million.<ref name="seo.comf"/> |-| 2000 || January 1 || New web search portal || [[wikipedia:Baidu|Baidu]], a Chinese company that would grow to provide many search-related services, launches.|-| 2002-3 || || Web search business consolidation || [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]] buys Inktomi (2002) and then [[wikipedia:Overture Services Inc.|Overture Services Inc.]] (2003) which has already bought [[wikipedia:AlltheWeb|AlltheWeb]] and [[wikipedia:Altavista|Altavista]]. Starting 2003, Yahoo! starts using its own [[wikipedia:Yahoo Slurp|Yahoo Slurp]] web crawler to power [[wikipedia:Yahoo! Search|Yahoo! Search]]. Yahoo! Search combines the technologies of all Yahoo!'s acquisitions (until 2002, Yahoo! had been using Google to power its search).

| 1998 2003 || June 5 || New web directory Statistics (internet userbase) || Gnuhoo, a web directory project by [[Rich Skrenta]] and [[Bob Truel]], both employees The number of [[Sun Microsystems]], launcheswebsites online reaches 38 million.<ref name=internetseh/><ref name="SlashdotGnuhooseo.comf">{{cite web|url=http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=98/06/23/0849239| accessdate = April 27, 2007|work=[[Slashdot]] | title=The GnuHoo BooBoo}}</ref> It would later be renamed the [[Open Directory Project]].

| 1999 2003 || May || New web search engine Statistics (internet userbase) || [[AlltheWeb]], based on the Ph.D. thesis The number of Tor Egge at the [[Norwegian University of Science and Technology]], titled ''FTP Search'', launches. The engine is launched by Egge's company [[Fast Search & Transfer]], established on July 16, 1997internet users reaches 782 million.<ref name=internetseh"seo.comf"/>

| 2000 2004-5 || January 1 November (2004) - February (2005) || New web search portal Change in backend providers || Microsoft starts using its own indexer and crawler for MSN Search rather than using blended results from [[Baiduwikipedia:LookSmart|LookSmart]] and [[wikipedia:Inktomi|Inktomi]], a Chinese company that would grow to provide many search-related services, launches.

| 2002-3 2004 || December || Web search business consolidation User experience || [[Yahoo!wikipedia:Google Suggest|Google Suggest]] buys Inktomi (2002) and then is introduced as a [[Overture Services Inc.wikipedia:Google Labs|Google Labs]] feature.<ref name=suggest-sel>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/googlecom-finally-gets-google-suggest-feature-14626|title = Google.com Finally Gets Google Suggest Feature|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (2003technologist) which has already bought |publisher = [[AlltheWebwikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]] and [[Altavista]]. Starting 2003|date = August 25, 2008|accessdate = February 2, Yahoo! starts using its own [[Yahoo Slurp]] 2014}}</ref><ref name=suggest-official>{{cite web crawler to power [[Yahoo! Search]]|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/at-loss-for-words. Yahoo! Search combines the technologies of all Yahoo!'s acquisitions (until 2002html|title = At a loss for words?|date = August 25, Yahoo! had been using 2008|publisher = Official Google to power its search).Blog|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref>

| 2004-5 2005 || January ||Webmaster tools | November (2004) - February (2005) |To combat link spam, [[wikipedia:Google| Change in backend providers Google]], [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]] and [[wikipedia:Microsoft| Microsoft starts using its own indexer and crawler for MSN Search rather than using blended results from ]] collectively introduce the [[LookSmartwikipedia:nofollow|nofollow]] and attribute.<ref name=moz>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/google-algorithm-change|title = Google Algorithm Change History|publisher = [[Inktomiwikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]|accessdate = February 1, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2062985/Google-Yahoo-MSN-Unite-On-Support-For-Nofollow-Attribute-For-Links|title = Google, Yahoo, MSN Unite On Support For Nofollow Attribute For Links|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = January 18, 2005|accessdate = February 1, 2014|publisher = Search Engine Watch}}</ref>

| 2004 2005 || December October || User experience New web search engine || [[Google Suggestwikipedia:Overture|Overture]] is introduced as a owner [[Google Labswikipedia:Bill Gross|Bill Gross]] featurelaunches the Snap search engine, with many features such as display of search volumes and other information, as well as sophisticated auto-completion and related terms display. It is unable to get traction and soon goes out of business.<ref name=suggest-selinternetseh/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchenginelandwebsearch.about.com/googlecom-finally-gets-google-suggest-feature-14626od/enginesanddirectories/a/snap.htm|title = Google.com Finally Gets Google Suggest FeatureSnap - A New Kind of Search Engine|last = SullivanBoswell|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[Search Engine Land]]|date = August 25, 2008Wendy|accessdate = February 211, 2014}}</ref><ref name=suggest-official>{{cite web|urlpublisher =http[[wikipedia://googleblogAbout.blogspotcom|About.com/2008/08/at-loss-for-words.html|title = At a loss for words?|date = August 25, 2008|publisher = Official Google Blog|accessdate = February 2, 2014]]}}</ref>

| 2005 2006-2009 || January || Webmaster tools New human-curated web search engine || To combat link spam, [[Googlewikipedia:Wikia|Wikia]], launches [[Yahoo!wikipedia:Wikia Search|Wikia Search]] and [[Microsoft]] collectively introduce the [[nofollow]] attribute, a search engine based on human curation, but then shuts it down.Relevant dates: publicly proposed December 23, 2006<ref name=mozTimesDec23>{{cite web|last=Doran|first=James|url=http://mozbusiness.timesonline.co.comuk/article/google0,,9075-algorithm-change2517026,00.html|title = Founder of Wikipedia plans search engine to rival Google Algorithm Change History|publisher work=The Times |location=London |date= [[SEOmoz]]December 23, 2006|accessdate = February 1January 6, 20142007 }}</ref>and January 31, 2007,<ref>[http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197003494 Wales: Search Wikia Will Succeed Where Google Cannot], InformationWeek, February 5, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2007.</ref> private pre-alpha December 24, 2007,<ref>{{Cite cite web|url=http://searchenginewatchlists.wikia.com/articlepipermail/2062985search-l/Google2007-YahooDecember/000845.html |title=private pre-MSN-Unite-On-Support-For-Nofollow-Attribute-For-Linksalpha invites available |title accessdate= GoogleDecember 24, Yahoo, MSN Unite On Support For Nofollow Attribute For Links2007 |last = SullivanWales |first = DannyJimmy |authorlink date=December 24, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= Danny Sullivan (technologist)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/24/AR2007122401567.html |date title= Wikia Search Project to Launch January 187, 2005Wales says |accessdate = February 1December 24, 2007 |date=December 24, 20142007 |publisher work= Search Engine WatchThe Washington Post}}</ref> toolbar release August 2008, shutdown March–May 2009.<ref>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10207896-2.html Wales giving up on Wikia Search]</ref>

| 2005 2007 || October || New web search engine Search evolution || [[Overture]] owner [[Bill Gross]] launches Search starts to evolve in new ways. Updates are aimed at improving the Snap search engine, with many features such as display of search volumes and other information, as well as sophisticated auto-completion and related terms display. It is unable to get traction and soon goes out of businessuser experience.<ref name=internetseh/><ref>{{cite web|url=http"20 Years of SEO://websearch.about.com/od/enginesanddirectories/a/snap.htm|title = Snap - A New Kind Brief History of Search Engine|last = Boswell|first = Wendy|accessdate = February 11, 2014|publisher = [[About.com]]}}<Optimization"/ref>

| 2006-2009 2008 || January 28 || New human-curated web search engine || [[Wikia]] launches [[Wikia Searchwikipedia:Cuil|Cuil]], a web search engine based on human curationcreated by ex-Googlers that uses picture thumbnails to display search results, but then shuts it downlaunches. Relevant dates: publicly proposed December 23, 2006<ref name=TimesDec23>{{cite web|last=Doran|first=James|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2517026,00.html|title=Founder of Wikipedia plans search engine to rival Google|work=The Times |location=London |date=December 23, 2006|accessdate=January 6, 2007 }}</ref"AP1"> and January 31Liedtke, 2007Michael,<ref>''[http://www.informationweekmsnbc.msn.com/newsid/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=197003494 Wales: Search Wikia Will Succeed Where 25884709 Ex-Google Cannotengineers debut 'Cuil' way to search]'', InformationWeekAssociated Press, February 5, 2007. Retrieved 28 July 272008, 2007.retrieved 13 Dec 2009</ref> private pre-alpha December 24, 2007It would later shut down on September 17,2010.<ref>{{cite web news|author=Michael Arrington|title=Cuil Goes Down, And We Hear It’s Down For Good|url=http://lists.wikiatechcrunch.com/pipermail2010/09/search17/cuil-goes-down-and-we-hear-its-down-l/2007for-Decembergood/000845.html |titlepublisher=private pre-alpha invites available |accessdate=December 24, 2007 |last=Wales |first=Jimmy TechCrunch|date=December 24, 2007 2010-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Devindra, Hardawar|title=Supposed Google-killer Cuil’s reign of terror may finally be over|url=http://www.washingtonpostventurebeat.com/wp-dyn2010/content09/article17/2007/12/24supposed-google-killer-cuils-reign-of-terror-may-finally-be-over/AR2007122401567.html |titlepublisher=Wikia Search Project to Launch January 7, Wales says |accessdate=December 24, 2007 VentureBeat|date=December 24, 2007 |work=The Washington Post2010-09-17}}</ref> toolbar release August 2008, shutdown March–May 2009.<refname=REF_ID>[{{cite news |title=Cuil is Stone Cold – Another 'Google Killer' Bites the Dust |author= |newspaper=SearchEngineWatch |date=2010-09-18 |url=http://newsblog.cnetsearchenginewatch.com/8301100918-17939_109-10207896-2.html Wales giving up on Wikia Search]132701 }}</ref>

| 2008 2009 || January 28 June 3 || New web search Search engine launch || [[Cuilw:Bing (search engine)|Bing]]launches, a web with {{w|Microsoft}} aggressively marketing it as the search engine created by ex-Googlers that uses picture thumbnails to display search would produce noticeably better results, launches.<ref name="AP1">Liedtke, Michael, ''[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25884709 Ex-Google engineers debut 'Cuil' way to search]'', Associated Press, 28 July 2008, retrieved 13 Dec 2009</ref> It would later shut down on September 17, 2010.<ref>than {{cite newsw|author=Michael Arrington|title=Cuil Goes Down, And We Hear It’s Down For Good|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/17/cuil-goes-down-and-we-hear-its-down-for-good/|publisher=TechCrunch|date=2010-09-17Google}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news|authorname=Devindra, Hardawar|title=Supposed Google-killer Cuil’s reign "A Brief History of terror may finally be over|url=http:/Search & SEO"/venturebeat.com/2010/09/17/supposed-google-killer-cuils-reign-of-terror-may-finally-be-over/|publisher=VentureBeat|date=2010-09-17}}</ref><ref name=REF_ID>{{cite news |title=Cuil is Stone Cold – Another 'Google Killer' Bites the Dust |author= |newspaper=SearchEngineWatch |date=2010-09-18 |url=http://blog"seo.searchenginewatch.com/100918-132701 }}<comf"/ref>

| 2009 || July 29 || Web search engine consolidation || [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]] and [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]] announce that they have made a ten-year deal in which the [[wikipedia:Yahoo! Search|Yahoo! search engine]] would be replaced by Bing. Yahoo! will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal, and have the right to sell adverts on some Microsoft sites. Yahoo! Search will still maintain its own [[wikipedia:user interface|user interface]], but will eventually feature "Powered by Bing™" branding.<ref>{{cite news |title=Microsoft and Yahoo seal web deal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8174763.stm |date=29 July 2009 <!-- 13:58 UK --> |accessdate=2009-07-29 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=REFILE-UPDATE 1-Microsoft, Yahoo in 10-year Web search deal |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/CMPSRV/idUSN2921665320090729 |date=Jul 29, 2009 <!-- 8:27am EDT --> |accessdate=2009-07-29 |author=Tiffany Wu |author2=Derek Caney |publisher= [[wikipedia:Thomson Reuters|Thomson Reuters]] }}</ref> All Yahoo! Search global customers and partners are expected to be transitioned by early 2012.<ref name=YahooHelp>{{cite web|url=http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/alliance/alliance-2.html;_ylt=AvrC8b99B5.r4JmW33gA5ChaMnlG|title=When will the change happen? How long will the transition take?|publisher=Yahoo!|date=1 December 2011|accessdate=10 May 2012}}</ref>

| 2009 || August 10 (announced), rollout completed and made live June 8, 2010 || Search algorithm update || Named ''[[wikipedia:Google Search#Google Caffeine|Caffeine]]'', this update is announced on August 10, 2009. It promises faster crawling, expansion of the index, and a near-real-time integration of indexing and ranking.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/08/help-test-some-next-generation.html|title = Help test some next-generation infrastructure|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Google Webmaster Central Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-caffeine/|title = Google Caffeine: A Detailed Test of the New Google|last = Parr|first = Ben|authorlink = Ben Parr|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2009/08/10/caffeine-its-google-on-red-bull-or-something/|title = Caffeine: It's Google On Red Bull, Or Something|last = Siegler|first = MG|date = August 10, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2009/12/28/google-caffeine-faster-search-index/|title = Google Is About To Get Caffeinated With A Faster Search Index|last = Schoenfeld|first = Erick|date = December 28, 2009|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref> The rollout is made live on June 8, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html|title = Our new search index: Caffeine|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/08/google-caffeine/|title = Caffeine: Google Finally Brews Its New Pot Of Web Results — 50% Fresher|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''|last = Siegler|first = MG}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html|title = Google’s New Indexing Infrastructure "Caffeine" Now Live|last = Fox|first = Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = June 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref>

| 2010 || September 8 || User experience || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Instant|Google Instant]], described as a ''search-before-you-type'' feature: as users are typing, Google predicts the user's whole search query (using the same technology as in [[wikipedia:Google Suggest|Google Suggest]], later called the autocomplete feature) ''and'' instantaneously shows results for the top prediction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/search-now-faster-than-speed-of-type.html|title = Search: now faster than the speed of type|date = September 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/08/google-instant-its-search-before-you-type/|title = Google Instant: It Searches Before You Type|last = Tsotsis|first = Alexia|date = September 8, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/google-instant-behind-scenes.html|title = Google Instant, behind the scenes |date = September 9, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog}}</ref> Google claims that this is estimated to save 2–5 seconds per search query.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/instant/about.html|title = About Google Instant |publisher = [[wikipedia:Google|Google]]|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> SEO commentators initially believe that this will have a major effect on [[wikipedia:search engine optimization|search engine optimization]], but soon revise downward their estimate of the impact.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://moz.com/blog/google-instant-fewer-changes-to-seo-than-the-average-algo-update|last = Fishkin|first = Rand|publisher = [[wikipedia:SEOmoz|SEOmoz]]|title = Google Instant: Fewer Changes to SEO than the Average Algo Update|date = September 21, 2010|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref>

| 2010 || November 1 || New web search engine || [[wikipedia:Blekko|Blekko]], a search engine that uses [[wikipedia:slashtag|slashtag]]s to allow people to search in more targeted categories, launches.<ref name=WSJ>{{cite web|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704477904575586551374128996.html?mod=googlenews_wsj|title = Start-Up Aims at Google: Blekko.com Taps Users to Narrow Results, Avoid Spam Sites|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]]''|date = November 1, 2010|accessdate = February 11, 2014|last = Efrati|first = Amir}}</ref>

| 2011 || June 2 || Webmaster tools || [[wikipedia:Google|Google]], [[wikipedia:Yahoo!|Yahoo!]], and [[wikipedia:Microsoft|Microsoft]] announce [[wikipedia:Schema.org|Schema.org]], a joint initiative that supports a richer range of tags that websites can use to convey better information.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/schema-org-google-bing-yahoo-unite-79554|title = Schema.org: Google, Bing & Yahoo Unite To Make Search Listings Richer Through Structured Data|last = Fox|first= Vanessa|authorlink = Vanessa Fox|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-schemaorg-search-engines.html|title = Introducing schema.org: Search engines come together for a richer web|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Guha|first = Ramanathan|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/02/google-yahoo-and-bing-collaborate-on-structured-data-to-make-search-listings-richer/|title = Google, Yahoo, And Bing Collaborate On Structured Data To Make Search Listings Richer|last = Empson|first = Rip|date = June 2, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref>

| 2011 || February 23–24 || Search algorithm update || Google launches [[wikipedia:Google Panda|Google Panda]], a major update affecting 12% of search queries. The update continues with the earlier work of cracking down on spam, content farms, [[wikipedia:scraper site|scraper]]s, and websites with a high ad-to-content ratio.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html|title = Finding more high-quality sites in search|publisher = Official Google Blog|date = February 24, 2011|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal|last2 = Cutts|first2 = Matt|authorlink2 = Matt Cutts|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/business/2011/03/the-panda-that-hates-farms/|title = TED 2011: The ‘Panda’ That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google’s Top Search Engineers|last = Levy|first = Steven|authorlink = Steven Levy|date = March 3, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Wired Magazine|Wired Magazine]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|url=http://searchengineland.com/how-google-panda-places-updates-created-a-rollercoaster-ride-for-iyp-traffic-101683|title=How Google Panda & Places Updates Created A Rollercoaster Ride For IYP Traffic|date = November 21, 2011|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref> The rollout is gradual over several months, and Panda will see many further updates.

| 2012 || January 10 || Search algorithm update, user experience || Google launches [[wikipedia:Search Plus Your World|Search Plus Your World]], a deep integration of one's social data into search.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/search-plus-your-world.html|title = Search, plus Your World|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Official Google Blog|last = Singhal|first = Amit|authorlink = Amit Singhal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/01/10/google-launches-social-search/|title = Google Merges Search and Google+ Into Social Media Juggernaut|last = Ulanoff|first = Lance|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref> SEO commentators are critical of how the search results favor [[wikipedia:Google+|Google+]] and push it to users, compared to more widely used social networks such as [[wikipedia:Facebook|Facebook]] and [[wikipedia:Twitter|Twitter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/examples-google-search-plus-drive-facebook-twitter-crazy-107554|title = Real-Life Examples Of How Google’s "Search Plus" Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = January 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://marketingland.com/twitter-google-wwe-bing-3206|title = Twitter Cries Foul Over Google "@WWE" Search, But Google Still Beats Bing|date = January 11, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Marketing Land|Marketing Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/10/search-google-plus-not-your-world/|title = "Search Plus Your World" Is Just About Google+, Not Your World|date = January 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2012/01/13/google-social-search-too-much-too-soon/|title = Why Google's Social Search Is Too Much, Too Soon|last = Kessler|first = Sarah|date = January 13, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:Mashable|Mashable]]''}}</ref>

| 2012 || April 24 || Search algorithm update || Google launches its "Webspam update" which would soon become known as [[wikipedia:Google Penguin|Google Penguin]].<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html|title = Another step to reward high-quality sites|last = Cutts|first = Matt|authorlink = Matt Cutts|date = April 24, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = Inside Search: The official Google Search blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/the-penguin-update-googles-webspam-algorithm-gets-official-name-119623|title = The Penguin Update: Google’s Webspam Algorithm Gets Official Name|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/penguin-update-recovery-tips-advice-119650|title = Google Penguin Update Recovery Tips & Advice|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = April 26, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-talks-penguin-update-recover-negative-seo-120463|title = Two Weeks In, Google Talks Penguin Update, Ways To Recover & Negative SEO|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|date = May 10, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref>

| 2012 || May 10 || User experience || Microsoft announces a redesign of its [[wikipedia:Bing (search engine)|Bing]] search engine that includes "Sidebar", a social feature that searches users' social networks for information relevant to the search query.<ref>{{cite web|last=Goldman|first=David|title=Bing fires at Google with new social search|url=http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/10/technology/bing-redesign/index.htm?source=cnn_bin|publisher=CNN Money|accessdate=10 May 2012|date=10 May 2012}}</ref>

| 2012 || May 16 || Search algorithm update || Google starts rolling out [[wikipedia:Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]], used by Google internally to store semantic relationships between objects. Google now begins displaying supplemental information about objects related to search queries on the side.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/introducing-knowledge-graph-things-not.html|title = Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings|last = Singhal|first= Amit|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = The Official Google Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-launches-knowledge-graph-121585|title = Google Launches Knowledge Graph To Provide Answers, Not Just Links|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/16/google-just-got-a-whole-lot-smarter-launches-its-knowledge-graph/|title = Google Just Got A Whole Lot Smarter, Launches Its Knowledge Graph|last = Lardinois|first = Frederic|date = May 16, 2012|accessdate = February 2, 2014|publisher = ''[[wikipedia:TechCrunch|TechCrunch]]''}}</ref>

| 2013 || August 21–22 (approximate date for rollout), September 26 (announcement) || Search algorithm update || Google releases [[wikipedia:Google Hummingbird|Google Hummingbird]], a core algorithm update that may enable more semantic search and more effective use of the [[wikipedia:Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]] in the future.<ref name=moz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816|title = FAQ: All About The New Google "Hummingbird" Algorithm|date = September 26, 2013|last = Sullivan|first = Danny|authorlink = Danny Sullivan (technologist)|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Land|Search Engine Land]]|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/google-update-17268.html|title = Some Reports Of An August 21/22 Google Update|publisher = [[wikipedia:Search Engine Roundtable|Search Engine Roundtable]]|date = August 23, 2013|last = Schwartz|first = Barry|authorlink = Barry Schwartz (technologist)|accessdate = February 2, 2014}}</ref>

[[wikipedia:Category:Computing timelines|Web search engines]][[wikipedia:Category:History of the Internet|Web search engines]]