No More Hide and Seek

When surfing the internet for information, does it sometimes seem as though you are playing a game of “Hide and Seek”—especially when using a search engine? Sometimes your search turns up nothing, and other times, you get more than you bargained for.

As the AiG website has matured into what has become known as the most powerful creation database in the world, finding the right answer was starting to become a hit or miss experience for some visitors. That was until AiG put into place a powerful search engine solution that links pages from all categories (news and articles, bookstore resources, Events, and audio and video resources) in one central place. Searching for the truth has never been faster!

According to Dave Mateer, web developer and programmer at AiG–USA, although the information was on the site, visitors could not find some of it because the old search engine was not pulling up relevant articles. “To put it simply, the previous search engine, though free, was no longer able to produce relevant results for many queries … . We knew that a new search solution was necessary to fulfill our mission [to provide biblical answers for people who are asking questions] for the website.”

The limitations of the previous search engine were also causing extra work for AiG’s Answers Department, which consists of three full-time staff members. With a site that draws 35,000–47,000 visits per day from people worldwide, web visitors could submit hundreds of email questions to AiG each week.

The problem was, web visitors would write in with questions that are comprehensively answered already on the web. But since their search did not find anything relevant, some people assumed we didn't have any information about their question.

The amount of information at www.AnswersInGenesis.org had simply overloaded the old search engine’s capacity to find that information, It had become “a victim of its own success,” declared Dale Mason, AiG–USA’s VP of marketing.

Fortunately, AiG is serious about keeping its website on the cutting edge of technology. “The vital creation/gospel information that’s at the AiG website must be freely available to equip Christians and challenge non-Christians, but it has to be easy to find and easy to use,” says AiG–USA president, Ken Ham. “We recently made the decision to invest in a powerful search engine with a wide range of capabilities because it will greatly increase the overall effectiveness of this unique and already well-trafficked site.”

Already, the new search engine is experiencing around 900 searches a day on hot topics such as the Grand Canyon, dinosaurs, evolution, carbon dating, Noah’s Ark, homosexuality, Ken Ham, ice age and many others.

AiG also hopes that the new search engine will provide answers which will be used of the Holy Spirit to ultimately lead unbelievers to salvation in Christ.

What can tens of thousands (and growing) monthly AiG website visitors expect to find when using the new search engine? For one, they can expect to find the truth without having to play hide and seek. “Now, when visitors search the site, they can easily find what they need,” says Mason. “It’s just plain fun to search for all kinds of different topics!”

Take our search engine for a test drive. Think of a topic or short phrase related to creation/evolution and type a word(s) in the search box anywhere on this site and then see what pops up.