This sleek, simple alternative to the portals has become the handsdown favorite for fast, no-nonsense searches. Since launching, Google has grown to include a university database, a foreign language search, and a mature content filter. It`s also gone wireless - and to rave reviews. Boasting 500 million indexed sites and access to 500 million more, this engine finds thousands of sites in a fraction of second - all organized by relevance to your search query. Found a site and want more like it? Type the URL into the query field and have GoogleScout look for similar sites. A note: simple, one- or two-word queries work best since Google will drop all the words it thinks are irrelevant in a question or long phrase.
What to love: Amazingly accurate results.
When to leave: Google doesn`t support Boolean search commands; if you seek complex search capabilities, AltaVista might be more your speed.