Search Engines are Databases on the Internet that collect information submitted to them, or gathered automatically using automated "robots" and "spiders". They generally use automated software to "index" the contents of a webpage, to varying degrees, and then freely make their services available to "search" for a given topic or webpage using "key words", phrases and search "parameters". They make their money selling premium services and advertising to users.

Google is the most dominant player *currently*, with Yahoo and a few others closing the gap and gunning for prominence. Having graduated from a directory to a full blown search engine, Yahoo has bought several of the largest paid inclusion and pay-per-click companies on the net. Google has done the same and continues to expand its corporate holdings both on and off the net.

The good news is that with new players coming into the search engine market, they have started reverting to the older method, though modified, of free inclusion from robot "crawlers" in many cases.

Ad Wizards can help advise you on your options after you have a properly created website on the net.