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The Evolution of Search Engines: From Keyword Matching to AI-Powered Understanding

by Suhasnadh Reddy Veluru, Viswa Chaitanya Marella, Sai Teja Erukude
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International Journal of Computer Applications
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Volume 187 - Number 18
Year of Publication: 2025
Authors: Suhasnadh Reddy Veluru, Viswa Chaitanya Marella, Sai Teja Erukude
10.5120/ijca2025925279

Suhasnadh Reddy Veluru, Viswa Chaitanya Marella, Sai Teja Erukude . The Evolution of Search Engines: From Keyword Matching to AI-Powered Understanding. International Journal of Computer Applications. 187, 18 ( Jul 2025), 7-14. DOI=10.5120/ijca2025925279

@article{ 10.5120/ijca2025925279,
author = { Suhasnadh Reddy Veluru, Viswa Chaitanya Marella, Sai Teja Erukude },
title = { The Evolution of Search Engines: From Keyword Matching to AI-Powered Understanding },
journal = { International Journal of Computer Applications },
issue_date = { Jul 2025 },
volume = { 187 },
number = { 18 },
month = { Jul },
year = { 2025 },
issn = { 0975-8887 },
pages = { 7-14 },
numpages = {9},
url = { https://ijcaonline.org/archives/volume187/number18/the-evolution-of-search-engines-from-keyword-matching-to-ai-powered-understandin/ },
doi = { 10.5120/ijca2025925279 },
publisher = {Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA},
address = {New York, USA}
}
%0 Journal Article
%1 2025-07-09T01:07:36.611542+05:30
%A Suhasnadh Reddy Veluru
%A Viswa Chaitanya Marella
%A Sai Teja Erukude
%T The Evolution of Search Engines: From Keyword Matching to AI-Powered Understanding
%J International Journal of Computer Applications
%@ 0975-8887
%V 187
%N 18
%P 7-14
%D 2025
%I Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Abstract

The search engines’ evolution from basic keyword-matching systems to AI-enabled search engines has changed how users search for information in the digital landscape. This paper maps out the technological evolution, starting with something as basic as early search engines like Archie and AltaVista, using the initial iterations of PageRank, and leading up to the technologies currently in use, AI-enabled systems that leverage deep learning, natural language processing (NLP), and transformer models like BERT. Areas like understanding semantics, large language models (LLMs), retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and vector databases will be focused on. Applications in e-commerce, healthcare, and research will be discussed, along with challenges including algorithmic bias, misinformation, SEO poisoning, and privacy. This paper will conclude with a preview of the future of retrieval, conversational AI, and multimodal retrieval.

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Index Terms

Computer Science
Information Sciences

Keywords

AI-Powered Search Engines Information Retrieval Large Language Models Semantic Search Natural Language Processing

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