Before the big search engines appeared such as Yahoo!, AltaVista, HotBot, and then Google, it was next to impossible to find anything on the World Wide Web. Today's search engines help, but there is much current work and research going into making search yet easier and better.

What goes into making a search engine? How do they work? What does it take to be a major player in search? Why is Google better than the others? Or is it? The technology behind search engines is quite interesting, and it draws from much of what we study and learn in computer science and from the mathematical underpinnings of CS. In this talk, we shall discuss the anatomy of a search engine, the tools and technologies involved, and current challenges that are faced