Search Engines for Genealogical Research

Although GOOGLE is the most comprehensive of the search engines for locating genealogical information at present, other web engines are also useful. In August 2009 Microsoft announced that it was acquiring YAHOO search engine to merge with its own engine – BING. Fierce market competition between these principal search engines should only serve to make genealogical research easier.

Many websites are added each day to the Internet. If you have searched for information on an ancestor more than 60 days previously, it is worth searching again. The information changes at an amazing rate on the Internet.

Search Engines to try include:


 * Google
 * Bing
 * Mocavo - launched in March 2011. Read reviews by Dick Eastman, Jordan Jones, &amp; Randy Seaver.
 * Linkpendium's Genealogical Data Search

Compiled Search Engines - these search multiple search engines at one time.


 * WebCrawler
 * SearchBoth - allows you to compare results from two search engines of your choice
 * Dogpile
 * Surfwax

Tips for Searching - Google, Yahoo and Bing have different sections for research, such as web records, images, videos, maps, etc. When researching information in books, try using the WEB function first, as it will also provide you with documents, articles and papers not included in the BOOKS function.

Additional Resources:


 * Genealogy Search Engines - at Cyndi's List
 * SearchEngineList - a comprehensive list of search engines