Helen said:
http://www.teoma.com/
Search engine that seems good...I've only recently tried it but at least (unlike
google) the first
few pages were ON TOPIC. Every single link had to do with the search query as opposed
to
throwing everything in whether it pertains to the item being searched or not.
From the site:
Adding a New Dimension to Search: The Teoma Difference is Authority
A lot of the players in the ever-evolving search space talk about relevance. But
what do they really do to achieve this Holy Grail? And what do they offer to prove
their claims? The truth is, not much. Teoma has invented a whole new approach to
search, and this allows us to achieve our mission of providing the best search results
on the Web. Now, we could throw a lot of fancy terms at you, like dynamic ranking and
advanced algorithms. And these concepts are a crucial part of what makes Teoma so
powerful. But, what's really important for you to know is that Teoma adds a new
dimension and level of authority to search results through its breakthrough approach,
known as Subject-Specific PopularitySM.
Instead of ranking results based upon the sites with the most links leading to
them, Teoma analyzes the Web as it is organically organized-in naturally-occurring
communities that are about or related to the same subject-to determine which sites are
most relevant. Teoma is the only search technology that can locate communities on the
Web within their specific subject areas, as they actually exist. And this allows us to
finely tune our search process, providing more precise results.
To determine the authority-and thus the overall quality and relevance-of a
site's content, Teoma uses Subject-Specific PopularitySM. Subject-Specific Popularity
ranks a site based on the number of same-subject pages that reference it, not just
general popularity. In a test performed by respected industry publication Search
Engine Watch, Teoma's relevance grade was raised to an "A" following the integration
of Teoma 2.0.
Teoma: Evolution and Growth
The engineers at Teoma are constantly working to improve and innovate Teoma
search technology to make it the most authoritative and comprehensive web search
available to consumers today. Below is a partial list of areas that we continue to
optimize:
Relevance
Relevance is the Holy Grail of search, elusive yet crucial. The recent launch of
Teoma 3.0 introduced improvements to the core Teoma algorithms, including an enhanced
ability to classify content in order to better assess authority as well as a new, more
sophisticated ability to detect and clean spam from the index and search results. In
addition, Teoma 3.0 crawls the most popular sites on the web daily, to ensure the
engine's ability to return the most up-to-date content.
Communities
Like social networks in the real world, the Web is clustered into local
communities. Communities are groups of Web pages that are about or are closely related
to the same subject. Teoma is the only search technology that can view these
communities as they naturally occur on the Web (displayed under the heading "Refine"
on Teoma.com). This unique method allows Teoma to generate more finely tuned search
results, exposing dimensions of the Web that have previously gone unseen by other
search engines. In other words, Teoma's community-based approach reveals a 3-D image
of the Web, providing it with more information about a particular Web page than other
search engines, which have only a one-dimensional view of the Web. This wealth of
information allows Teoma to add a new level of relevance to search results, known as
authority. Authority represents a level of expertise or knowledge to a Web page as
validated by other Web pages about the same subject.
Dynamic DescriptionsSM
Dynamic Descriptions enhance search results by showing the context of search
terms as they actually appear on referring Web pages. This feature provides searchers
with valuable information that helps them to better determine the relevance of a given
Web page in association with their query.
Advanced Search Tools
Teoma's Advanced Search tools allow searchers to add focus to a search using
specific criteria, such as exact phrase, page location, geographic region, domain and
site, date, and other word filters. Users can also search using 10 Western languages,
including Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese,
Spanish and Swedish. A link to Teoma's Advanced Search tools can be found next to the
search box on Teoma.com.
Teoma's Index
The Teoma index has surpassed 2 billion English-only web documents, a number
achieved after the removal of spam, duplicates and pornographic results.
Teoma's International Index
Teoma technology now supports double-byte Asian languages, which enabled the
recent beta launch of Ask Jeeves Japan, the first non-English based Teoma index.
How Teoma Works
In addition to utilizing existing search techniques, Teoma applies authority, a
new measure of relevance, to deliver authoritative search results. To determine the
level of authority associated with a particular site, Teoma employs three proprietary
techniques: Refine, Results and Resources.
Refine
First, Teoma organizes sites into naturally occurring communities that are about
the subject of each search query. These communities are presented under the heading
"Refine" on the Teoma.com results page. This tool allows a user to further focus his
or her specific search.
For example, a search for "Soprano" would present a user with a set of
refinement suggestions such as "Marie-Adele McArther" (a renowned soprano), "Three
Sopranos" (the operatic trio), "The Sopranos" (the wildly-popular HBO television show)
as well as several other choices. No other technology can dynamically cluster search
results into the actual communities as they exist on the Web.
Results
Next, after identifying these communities, Teoma employs a technique called
Subject-Specific PopularitySM. Subject-Specific Popularity analyzes the relationship
of sites within a community, ranking a site based on the number of same-subject pages
that reference it, among hundreds of other criteria. In other words, Teoma determines
the best answer for a search by asking experts within a specific subject community
about who they believe is the best resource for that subject. By assessing the
opinions of a site's peers, Teoma establishes authority for the search result.
Relevant search results ranked by Subject-Specific Popularity are presented under the
heading "Results" on the Teoma.com results page.
Resources
Finally, by dividing the Web into local subject communities, Teoma is able to
find and identify expert resources about a particular subject. These sites feature
lists of other authoritative sites and links relating to the search topic.
For example, a professor of Middle Eastern history may have created a page
devoted to his collection of sites that explain the geography and topography of the
Persian Gulf. This site would appear under the heading "Resources" in response to a
Persian Gulf-related query. No previous search technology has been able to find and
rank these sites.
Sponsored Links
Search results appearing under the heading "Sponsored Links" are provided by
Google®, a third party provider of pay for performance search listings. Google
generates highly relevant sponsored results by allowing advertisers to bid for
placement in this area based on relevant keywords. These results, which are powered by
Google's advanced algorithms, are then distributed across the Internet to some of the
world's most popular and well-known Web sites, including Teoma.com and Ask Jeeves.
© 2005 Ask Jeeves, Inc.
Teoma is a service mark of Ask Jeeves, Inc. All rights reserved.
