Web Dragons: Inside the Myths of Search Engine Technology

by Teresa Numerico, Marco Gori, Ian H. Witten, et al.

Book Overview

Web Dragons offers a perspective on the world of Web search and the effects of search engines and information availability on the present and future world. In the blink of an eye since the turn of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0123706092
• ISBN13: 9780123706096
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Want to know why search engines are named "web dragons"?

Web Dragons: Inside the Myths of Search Engine Technology explains everything you want to know about search engines (the so called "web dragons") and how they work. Before reading the book, you perhaps wonder why Witten and co-authors called search engines "web dragons". After reading the book, I'm sure you will understand why. Search engines are guardians of the world information and their power is formidable. The approach is descriptive and historical rather than technical. Thus, the book is intended to a wide audience: people working with data, librarians, webmasters, but also search engine users who wants to know more about the tool they use everyday. The first author, Ian Witten, is involved in the data mining field (see for example the famous book Data Mining (Witten and Frank, 2005). The book thus makes many allusions to data mining applications. It is divided as follows: * Setting the scene * Literature and the web * Meet the web * How to search * The web wars * Who controls information? * The dragons evolve The two first chapters cover the history of search engines (starting from the very beginning: writing, etc.). You can easily skip these chapters (which maybe interesting to librarians for example) and start with the third one. There, you learn everything about the web, protocols, programming languages, etc. The strength of the book is to cover all these topics in a readable manner. You never face code or pseudo-code, only clear and interesting descriptions. The next chapter covers basics of search engine ranking (e.g. PageRank) in details and much more. Principal search engines are also introduced and explained. The following chapter (The web wars) explains the different ways of abusing such search engines (link boosting, term boosting, link farm, spam, etc.). The chapter is very interesting and instructing. The next chapter (Who controls information?) points out the power of web dragons. They control world information and this raises privacy and copyright issues. Finally, the last chapter covers evolution of search engines. According to the authors, we are at the very beginning of information search. They focus on web communities that maybe the next step for search engine. As a conclusion, I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in how search engines work and especially how important they are for our society.

Do you want see the light about search engines?

A true light in the chaos of web. The initial idea of web has been betrayed by modern search engines but it seems that anybody knows nothing it. This book tries to explain with a intriguing style the web search engine secrets and why most of us consider them "modern oracles". I must notice that other books about search engine and in particular about Google too often yield into a sterile controversy; Web Dragons analyze most of very delicate questions with a pragmatic approach resulting in a really delicious reading suitable also for not technical people. Web Dragons will be a nice addition in every personal library.

All you ever wanted to know about Search engines by were afraid to ask!

This new book by Witten, Gori and Numerico covers the bases when it comes to understanding the good, the bad and the ugly about search engines and cyber-information access. Given the fundamental function that search engines provide for us: access to the Internet information treasure trove, Web Dragons provides insights into cyberspace not often made so accessible. The book covers the spectrum including some in-context history and background on the workings of the internet, as well at the impact it is having on information, its availability and presentation. Of considerable interest and importance is its contribution to the discussion on cyber-ethics, control of information and who is guarding the guardians (dragons)! The style is easy to read for both the novice and the well informed and will be a welcome addition to your library on web related books.

What you really need to know about search engines....

Anyone who has used a search engine - and who hasn't? - should read this book. It's a very approachable and coherent look at how search engines work, and their role in our information society. The theme of the books is sobering: for many people, access to the internet is through one site - a search engine that has become a "dragon" guarding access to a mine of information. I particularly like the writing style; the (somewhat dry) humour and intriguing stories are engaging, and on-line tools that we use daily are shown in a new light. The book is suitable for the lay person, but is still engaging for the technically inclined. It provides details about how search engines really work using meaningful examples and illustrations, as well as the exposing the social implications. Some of the important issues covered include the borderline between spam and content-targeted advertising, determining the authority of web pages compared with their popularity, and issues such as censorship, privacy and access to information. Topics range from the great library of Alexander to the most common misspellings of "Britney Spears" typed into Google. This book looks set to become part of the computing canon, and would sit equally well on a shelf of technical books or a coffee table. You won't be able to use it to implement your next search engine - it doesn't go into that level of detail. But it's a thought-provoking read, and would be a great gift for the curious or technically inclined people in your life.