Prospective search
Encyclopedia
Prospective search, or persistent search, is a method of searching
on the Internet
where the query is given first and the information for the results are then acquired. This differs from traditional, or "retrospective", search such as search engines, where the information for the results is acquired and then queried.
are used to gather notification of changes to websites so that the information received is as fresh as possible. Users can be notified in a number of ways of new results.
Prospective search is well suited to queries where the results change over time, such as the current news, blog
s and trends.
Search engine technology
Modern web search engines are complex software systems using the technology that has evolved over the years. There are several categories of search engine software: Web search engines , database or structured data search engines , and mixed search engines or enterprise search...
on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
where the query is given first and the information for the results are then acquired. This differs from traditional, or "retrospective", search such as search engines, where the information for the results is acquired and then queried.
Comparison to retrospective search
Retrospective search starts by gathering the information, indexing it, then letting users query the information. The results don't change until the index is rebuilt, often months apart. Prospective search starts with the user's queries, gathers the information in a targeted way, indexing it and then providing the results as they arrive. Sometimes Ping ServersPing blog
In blogging, ping is an XML-RPC-based push mechanism by which a weblog notifies a server that its content has been updated. An XML-RPC signal is sent to one or more "ping servers," which can then generate a list of blogs that have new material. The technology was first introduced by Dave Winer to...
are used to gather notification of changes to websites so that the information received is as fresh as possible. Users can be notified in a number of ways of new results.
Prospective search is well suited to queries where the results change over time, such as the current news, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s and trends.
See also
- PubSubPubSubPubSub was a prospective search engine for searching blogs, press releases, Usenet, USGS earthquake alerts, SEC filings and FAA Flight Delay information....
- Google AlertsGoogle AlertsGoogle Alerts is content change detection and notification service, offered by the search engine company Google, that automatically notifies users when new content from news, web, blogs, video and/or discussion groups matches a set of search terms selected by the user and stored by the Google...
- Google AppEngine Prospective Search Service