The web search tools or services originally began with two kinds; these were the Directories and Engines. The Directories or Search Directories were human powered, which meant that the websites included in the directory’s database were handpicked and classified according to the search by humans and is therefore, dependent on humans for its entries or listings. The Engines or Search Engines, on the other hand, are robots or crawlers; they read or “crawl” or “spider” through the web for information and collect the information and deposit it in a large database. These crawlers or spiders regularly return to the site to look for changes, and they update the database on these changes.

Today most of the web search engines are Hybrid Engines, which mean they are a mix of both kind, they both have human-powered listings as well as crawler-based results.

Now we also have Metasearch engines; are search engines searching through the database of other various search engines and search directories simultaneously, trying to select from all of them the most relevant results or hits, instead of searching the individual websites.

Another is also what we call Specialized Search Engine, which only focuses on one type of topic of information, whether in search for files, images, music, video, online references, business, shopping, news, blogs, and more.

There is also a Selection-based Search Engine, in which the query is done through the mouse instead of the traditional launching of a browser and going through a search engine, typing or pasting the query, viewing the results, and clicking the hyperlink that suits the searcher.

And we also have Desktop Search Engines or Search Tools where the searcher uses the search engine to search his own computer for his own files or file content rather than searching the internet.

Below are some of the well known search engines of today:
Yahoo: www.yahoo.com
- It was dubbed as the mother of the search directories and was originally a Search Directory that was mainly powered by humans, now it has evolved to a Hybrid Engine as most search engines usually are.
Google: www.google.com
- Is a very popular crawler-based search engine which was voted several times as the Most Outstanding Search Engine; a top choice for searchers and masters alike; a recommended first stop if not one-stop shop in your web hunts.
Dogpile: www.dogpile.com
- A metasearch engine that searches through the database of Google, Yahoo, bing (www.bing.com), and Ask (www.ask.com)
eBay!: www.ebay.com
- A popular specialized search engine which specializes in auctions: selling, and bidding for products
YouTube: www.youtube.com
- Another popular specialized search engine concentrating on TV and video.
Microsoft Word Smart Tag
- A selection-based search engine found in the later versions of Microsoft Word; the application recognizes certain types of information in the document such as dates, names, and places and converts it into a hyperlink enabling the user to click on the information which either prompts a browser to be launched or shows a selection of possible actions.
Windows Desktop Search
- A desktop search engine that is already built-in or part of Windows XP and Server 2003 and is named as Windows Search in Windows Vista, which searches the files on the searchers on computer.

The usage of the search engine ultimately depends on the searcher’s preference which is mainly determined through the accuracy of the hits of the searches in which the webmaster strongly depends on for his business traffic.

Part of this image is the emergence of black hat techniques and the companies that employ them.  In an effort to fool search engines, these companies try to, illegally manipulate how a search engine spider might see your Web site and therefore rank them higher.  These black hat techniques are often temporary, and always very dangerous.  Temporary in the sense that when you stop paying the company for your high ranks, they pull out their tricks from under your site so that it falls down in ranking, sometimes settling at a position that is much lower than when you started.  Dangerous, because it can get your site banned from search engines.

Fortunately, these deceitful techniques are always found out and search engines like Yahoo!, Google and Bing have constantly updated their search algorithms to defeat these techniques.  There are still companies that use black hat techniques but their client lists have since drastically dwindled.

On the other hand, white hat techniques like on-page SEO optimization, off-page SEO optimization, link building and creating better and SEO-friendly content are the surviving techniques, and which have been proven to be safe and effective.  Companies that use them have so far been successful in their campaigns.

There have been criticisms that SEO really does not do anything for your site.  You can be number one for keywords that nobody else wants or nobody else uses.  The critics say that for the really important keywords that would drive customers to your site, SEO cannot help you.

However, take a look at recent statistics to judge for yourself and see whether SEO works or not:

* According to Forbes’ Ad Effectiveness Survey, 48% of senior marketers at different companies think that SEO is the most effective online marketing tactic that generated conversions; and

* SEMPO State of Search Marketing Survey found that SEO was the second highest way to generate returns on your investment.

What does this mean?  It is an indicator that, done right, SEO can be your most effective ally when marketing online.  SEO even exceeds paid placements and e-mail marketing in perceived effectiveness.  However, this is not to say that if you are a company looking forward to cash in on online commerce, you should just focus on SEO.  There are a lot of companies that made bad decisions and that killed their SEO efforts right from the start.

How do you succeed in SEO?  You have to:

1. Plan and research extensively.  You just cannot go to the Internet and decide to optimize your Web pages without careful planning.  What keywords would you target, who is your target market, and how are you going to go about it?  Like any marketing strategy, SEO should be well thought over and carefully planned, so that implementing it would take less time and have a better chance of success.

2. Educate yourself.  Not all SEO tactics are equal or appropriate for your products.  You should know what tactics would work best for you.  What is more important is that you have to keep yourself updated with what is happening in SEO.  Continuing education is very important because search engines often change their algorithm to improve their own search results.  Search engines also come up with new services that you could tap.  For example, Google started off merely as a search engine where you input your keywords.  Over time, they have introduced various refinements like Google Local that is geared for local businesses and just recently, they have launched a search service that caters exclusively to movies.

3. Test, evaluate and monitor.  It is not enough that you optimize your site once and forget about it.  As indicated, search engines change the way they index your pages.  What may have worked for you now may not work next year, and so you have to fine tune your SEO according to these changes.  Do not get discouraged if you do not immediately get the results you want, as this only means that you need to change some of the things you did for your site.  SEO is largely a check-and-balance exercise, and you have to find what works for you and why it works for you.

Free hosting as one of the most commonly used today offers a free hosting service which can be used online. This type is most frequently supported with advertisements. This is probably the reason why there are plenty of advertisement ads which you can find online. This is also a good advantage for entrepreneurs, since they can introduce their products online without payment. Although it is free but as expected there will be plenty of business ad competitors, which will be encountered.

Video hosting is one of the most widely used types of web hosting. This service allows individual to upload, download or to view a video in a web server. This service can be used for a different purpose just like, for example, movie marketing. It will be much easier for film producers to sell their project online rather than in movie stores, since there is now a huge number of people connected to the internet. This is an advantage for those movie lovers because downloading a certain film online is much cheaper and more convenient. They may also get the chance to watch the movie, even if it is not yet released on theaters.

Some movies available online needed to be paid first before you can view it. If you want to view a film for free remember to watch out for those sites that offer a limited view of a certain film, this might trigger frustration on your part. Some of them would let you watch first for at least twenty to thirty minutes and eventually cut down the viewing. From there they will give you an option whether you will decide to continue watching or not. If you click to continue  the movie, they will then post a payment wizard that will allow you to pay first before you can proceed. Frustrating right? The fact that you already watched the movie for a half hour then there they came cutting off the film is such a bad thing. They should post a note first about the condition before the movie is viewed.

The next type is the image hosting service. This allows individuals to upload an image online which can be viewed by different users. The great thing about image hosting is that majority of them offers a free picture uploading. This may be an advantage for the majority since it gives a big opportunity for advertising and socializing. The next type is known as the social network hosting service. Sounds familiar? This is an online service that allows a certain individual or an organization to create and host an online-based social network.

There are plenty of social network hosts available. Before you get connected to them, you must first pay the said service. The price may depend on the duration of your connection. It can be for a number of weeks, months or a year. The last type of online hosting is known as the e-mail hosting. This is also considered as the widely used service. This is a lot different than a free email offered online. This type of service offers a professional level email at a cost. Majority of its users are private companies who want to have their own email under their control.