Blog search engines

Purpose - The purpose of this article is to explore the capabilities and limitations of weblog search engines. Design/methodology/approach - The features of a range of current blog search engines are described. These are then discussed and illustrated with examples that illustrate the reliability and coverage limitations of blog searching. Findings - Although blog searching is a useful new technique, the results are sensitive to the choice of search engine, the parameters used and the date of the search. The quantity of spam also varies by search engine and search type. Research limitations/implications - The results illustrate blog search evaluation methods and do not use a full-scale scientific experiment. Originality/value - Blog searching is a new technique, and one that is significantly different from web searching. Hence information professionals need to understand its strengths and weaknesses.