How Do Search Engines Work?

Today I did some research on search engines after I noticed that some of my pages aren’t listed on Google.

What I’ve learned

Search engines browse the web and log what they find. Then when a user searches, the engine looks through its database and returns relevant pages. It’s like converting one data structure (websites) into another (databases). They save lots of time by doing all the tedious searching for you. The reason some of my pages aren’t listed is probably because nothing links to them. So I didn’t really learn a whole lot about search engines, but it did spark another thought: what would life be like without them? I’m about to find out!

Challenge

Use no search engines for a day. The challenge begins at midnight on August 27th, 2021, and ends at midnight on August 28th, 2021. I’m hoping I’ll make some interesting discoveries and experience the web in a new light.

Rules:

• No search tools of any kind (Google, Youtube, Discord search, my site search, file manager search, tab completion, in page search CTRL+F, Vim search/sneaking)
• No using browser history or bookmarks to find pages.
• No hording URLs before the challenge starts, but saving them after it begins is allowed.

See you tomorrow!