The quality of different search engines has been known to change, and there are always new engines appearing. For these reasons, it's good to periodically take a look at the different options available.

For this comparison, we rated how relevant the results from various search engines were for certain searches. Also rated was the speed at which the results load and appear.

The "standard" statistic refers to how many results appear on the first page, while "sponsored" indicates the number of paid/featured listings displayed on the same page.

Both ratings range from zero to ten (10 is best). We have included the top five search engines, a significant new engine, a couple of obscure new engines, and a few older minor engines...

SEARCH PHRASE: Canada

AltaVista
Relevance: 8, Speed: 10; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 11

AOL
Relevance: 9, Speed: 5; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 8

Ask.com
Relevance: 9, Speed: 2; Standard: 11, Sponsored: 6

Bing
Relevance: 9, Speed: 8; Standard: 20, Sponsored: 0

Blast-Search
Relevance: 3, Speed: 8; Standard: 9, Sponsored: 9

BrowseGo
Relevance: 7, Speed: 7; Standard: 20, Sponsored: 13

Cuil
Relevance: 7, Speed: 7; Standard: 11, Sponsored: 0

GigaBlast
Relevance: 5, Speed: 9; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 1

Google
Relevance: 9, Speed: 9; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 2

Info.com
Relevance: 9, Speed: 8; Standard: 13, Sponsored: 3

Mamma
Relevance: 6, Speed: 9; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 10

Yahoo!
Relevance: 9, Speed: 4; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 12

Some engines provided details about the subject in addition to the results. Google displayed a small map of Canada. Ask.com and Bing supplied information about the country such as its language, currency, capitol, and population.

For the second comparison of results, a more specific phrase was used. The speed was not rated a second time.

SEARCH PHRASE: IBM PS/2 Model 30

AltaVista
Relevance: 9; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 9

AOL
Relevance: 9; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 8

Ask.com
Relevance: 8; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 11

Bing
Relevance: 9; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 1

Blast-Search
Relevance: 1; Standard: 9, Sponsored: 6

BrowseGo
Relevance: 9; Standard: 20, Sponsored: 11

Cuil
Relevance: 4; Standard: 11, Sponsored: 0

GigaBlast
Relevance: 4; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 1

Google
Relevance: 9; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 0

Info.com
Relevance: 10; Standard: 11, Sponsored: 4

Mamma
Relevance: 8; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 10

Yahoo!
Relevance: 10; Standard: 10, Sponsored: 2

Yahoo and the metasearch engine Info.com provided the most relevant results for both phrases, and AltaVista was the fastest. Google, Mamma, and Gigablast were close behind in speed. AOL, Ask.com, AltaVista, Bing, and Google provided nearly as relevant results. AltaVista may be the best choice for dial-up users.

Bing, Cuil, and Google showed the fewest sponsored listings. AltaVista, BrowseGo, and Mamma had the most. BrowseGo, Bing, and Info.com provided the most standard results. Mamma.com sponsored results were poorly distinguished and interspersed among the standard listings, which reduced the search quality.

Gigablast deserves some credit for its fast speed, minimal advertising, and use of wind power, but the relevance of its results needs improvement. Among the three obscure and/or new search engines, BrowseGo performed the best. Results from Cuil were acceptable but not as good as the major engines.

Overall, there are many good choices available when searching the Internet. The main differences between the top five engines are their differences in speed, sponsored listings, and extra information they include with results. Differences in relevance are more obvious with the minor engines, ranging from poor to excellent.