The invisible web is not searched by search engines and requires more effort to find. The visible web is only a fraction of the information available. Databases can be accessed by adding “database” to a search query. Spiders cannot access pages that require a password or have poorly written scripts. The invisible web can only be accessed through databases and sophisticated search techniques.
The invisible web is the hidden area of the internet that is not automatically searched by search engines. This is information that is freely available on the Internet, but will not be retrieved by normal search requests. Information hidden on the invisible web takes a little more work to find.
The visible web is information that you can see or retrieve from search engines. The invisible web is sometimes referred to as the deep web. If you think of the internet as one giant database, some of the information in the database is easier to find than others. The information contained on the Visible Web is only a fraction of the information available on the Internet.
Internet search engine databases already contain huge amounts of information. When you type a question into a search engine, it will display a list of possible pages that may answer your question. It is cheaper for the search engine to display these answer pages than to store every possible page on the topic you are looking for. It also takes up less space in the search engine database.
Think of the millions of people who use the internet every day. They ask search engines questions, search for topics or just surf the net. It is easier for the database to provide the response page than to access the web pages directly.
One way to access material on the invisible web is to simply enter the word database after your search query. If you are looking for holidays in Ireland, use the Holidays in Ireland database. This will direct the search engine to check searchable databases on your topic. Many databases that store information have the word database on their web pages, making them easier to find.
There are some web pages that are on the web invisible solely for technical reasons. Databases are created using spiders. These are computer programs that search the web for information. However, spiders cannot think or type. They can jump from link to link, but they can’t think for themselves.
If the spider comes across a web page that needs a password to access, it has no way to enter that page. There are many sites that require you to log in and use a password to access and view their content. Also, if a web page was created without the usual HTML, which is the basic web language, it might not always be easily read. For example, a PDF document can only be accessed as a link and not easily found as an HTML web page.
Another link that spiders won’t go to is any link with a question mark. Spiders are advised not to go to links with a question mark, as they may be traps set to ensnare spiders. The link may also contain poorly written scripts and therefore may not be archived in normal databases. These links will only be available when searching databases on the invisible web.
Search engines are updated with sophisticated search techniques to access the invisible web. It is thought that over time the invisible web will become more easily visible. Until then, it’s about using your brainpower to query search engines and navigate links to find information.
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