What best describes a Metasearch?

What best describes a Metasearch?

• A. A single search engine
• B. Best results from multiple engines
• C. A library catalog
• D. A paid advertising service

Answer: (B)

Metasearch combines results from multiple search engines into one list, giving you broader coverage than any single engine. It sends your query to several engines, collects their results, merges them, removes duplicates, and presents the strongest hits in a unified view. That core behavior—the aggregation of results from multiple sources to surface the best overall results—is why this description fits best. It's not just a single search engine, since it relies on several sources; it's not a library catalog, which focuses on a library’s holdings; and it's not a paid advertising service, which operates differently by promoting sponsored content rather than aggregating search results.

Metasearch combines results from multiple search engines into one list, giving you broader coverage than any single engine. It sends your query to several engines, collects their results, merges them, removes duplicates, and presents the strongest hits in a unified view. That core behavior—the aggregation of results from multiple sources to surface the best overall results—is why this description fits best. It's not just a single search engine, since it relies on several sources; it's not a library catalog, which focuses on a library’s holdings; and it's not a paid advertising service, which operates differently by promoting sponsored content rather than aggregating search results.