Evaluating the stability of the search tools Hotbot and Snap: a case study

Discusses the results of a case study in which 20 random queries were prese nted for ten consecutive days to Hotbot and Snap, two search tools that dra w their results from the database of Inktomi. The results show huge daily f luctuations in the number of hits retrieved by Hotbot, and high stability i n the hits displayed by Snap. These findings are to alert users of Hotbot o f its instability as of October 1999, and they raise questions about the re liability of previous studies estimating the size of Hotbot based on its ov erlap with other search engines.