Design and Development of a Programmable Meta Search Engine
Misra Manoj, Elizabeth Jacob · International Journal of Computer Applications · 2013
To the web user, a Meta Search Engine (MSE) appears much like a regular search engine (SE).MSE, unlike an SE does not have an index.Instead, it dynamically queries multiple search engines; extracts, fuses and re-ranks results and presents to users.Generally, an MSE is developed from scratch even if the focus is on improving fusion ranking, query modification or domain specific search.This paper proposes a programmable MSE with the help of a LISP-like language called T! for interfacing search sources and for modifying fused results.This enables easy construction and deployment of an MSE service.The Programmable-Meta Search Engine (P-MSE) provides, but is not limited to the following new features: construction of a domain specific vertical or general MSE by addition of dynamic web pages as front-end; a tool for fully automated test-run of various fusion algorithms and query modification schemes using a program or script capable of http-querying as front-end on real-time web; a programmable service where account holders can upload scripts and deploy meta search engines.The concept of P-MSE developed here, is showcased by the MSE called SSIR (SSIR for the Savvy Information Retriever).