Search engines are the most important tool in order to find new web contents. Search engines have also come to be Big Business: Google is the most valuable media group in the world taking into account its market value of $80 billion. Between the years 2004 and 2005 the output of the Google group raised by 367 percent up to $1.5 billion.

In their position as gatekeepers on the Internet search engines present a central challenge to both science and research � finally, it's about the question of »digital information power«. The book in hand is the first publication which scientifically examines the most predominant dimensions of the role of search engines in the information society with an interdisciplinary approach. Furthermore, it helps systematize future search engine research.

This book goes back to the international conference �The Rising Power of Search-Engines on the Internet: Impacts on Users, Media Policy, and Media Business� which took place in june 2006 in Berlin. This conference has been organized by the Chair of Journalism II of the University of Leipzig and the Chair of International Journalism of the University of Dortmund in cooperation with the department of media and policy of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

Three different chapters take up the following central research fields:

The first chapter treats the most important aspects in the field of search engine regulation and economy. It shows challenges, analyzes structures of regulation and develops ways to solve these problems.

The second chapter examines the relationship between search engines and journalism: Do search engines on the one hand take over journalistic functions, and to what extent do they serve as a mean of information acquisition on the other hand? This chapter tries to find out how the described developments influence the structure of the mass communication system.

The third chapter deals with the quality of search engines and the behaviour of their users. Knowledge about the quality of search engines is of great relevance in order to evaluate appropriately their role in imparting information. This book shows new approaches and gives suggestions in this area since the question of quality of search engines has not yet been answered sufficiently. In addition, the analysis of user behaviour is a basic step on the way to drawing conclusions regarding media skills as key qualifications in the information age.

Many internationally leading experts on the field of search engines can be found among the authors, including scientists of the Universities of Harvard, Yale and Columbia as well as the London School of Economics and the Sorbonne University of Paris. Contributions of practically working journalists, all of them in leading positions in editorial offices and media enterprises, have also been included in order to enrich the debate on search engines with their practical experience and knowledge.

This book is addressed to both science and practice, especially to journalists, decision makers in media policy and media business. It also offers a well-founded insight into the world of search engines, on which only little research has been done so far, to a generally interested public.

Marcel Machill, Prof. Dr., MPA (Harvard), is Professor of Journalism at the University of Leipzig. Internet search engines belong to his main research areas. Being the author and editor of relevant publications he is one of the leading experts in this field.

Markus Beiler, Diplom-Medienwissenschaftler, works as Research Assistant at the Chair of Journalism II of the Institute of Communication and Media Science at the University of Leipzig. He leads the student training course in online journalism and does research on online journalism, (news) search engines and internet governance.