Internet search engines and databases

I would like to start a new thread to discuss the future of searching
the internet.

Internet search engines utilize the accessible content of a website to
generate their search results. More and more website content is being
placed in databases and served dynamically to users as required. The
information in these databases is not available to search engines because the databases have security mechanisms (e.g., username & password) to prevent access. As more and more websites become based on
information contained in databases, the search results be come increasingly sparse and inaccurate.

I have already found that when I want to find an item, a particular
model computer printer (using model number for the search) for example,
I will not get a hit from many websites via the search engines, yet if I
go to the websites and search, I do get a search hit. So where will this
leave us for comparison shopping for products.

Are web search engines going to be relegated to providing search results
from websites which only have static content?

Are there ways to let search engines have access to databases without
giving away the store (i.e., family jewels)?

If we give search engines access to the databases, how do they know how
to search them (e.g., databases, tables, columns, etc.)?

Is it possible to generate an XML standard which would allow general
access to most databases?

Do we need some standards for databases which want to participate with
search engines?

The future of internet navigation and true competitive x-commerce depends on resolution of this problem. Let's get started!

Tony Fulford
Business User Software

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