How search engines and feeds work quiz

Question 1

What is a web crawler (sometimes called a spider) and what does it do?

Accepted Answer

A program that automatically visits pages and follows links to discover content

Answer

A virus that deletes web pages

Answer

A tool that designs websites

Answer

A person who types websites by hand

Question 2

What is a search engine 'index', and why is it compared to the index at the back of a book?

Accepted Answer

A list linking words to the pages that contain them, like a book index

Answer

A ranking of the most popular websites only

Answer

A backup copy of your computer files

Answer

The home page of a search engine

Question 3

Why does a search engine return results almost instantly instead of searching the whole internet when you press Enter?

Accepted Answer

It searches its pre-built index instead of the live internet

Answer

It reads every website on Earth in one second

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It guesses the answer randomly

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It calls a human to find the answer

Question 4

What does 'ranking' mean in a search engine?

Accepted Answer

Ordering results so the most relevant pages appear first

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Counting how many letters are in your search

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Deleting old web pages

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Choosing a website's colors

Question 5

Name two signals a search engine might use to decide which page to rank higher.

Accepted Answer

Relevance to your words and how many trusted pages link to it

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The page's file size and its background music

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The number of images only

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How long ago you last ate

Question 6

What are 'keywords' in the context of searching?

Accepted Answer

The important words you type to describe what you want

Answer

Secret passwords for websites

Answer

Words that are banned online

Answer

The name of the search engine company

Question 7

How can making your search query more specific improve your results?

Accepted Answer

It gives more clues so the engine finds closer matches

Answer

It makes the search slower but no better

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It hides the results from you

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It always returns zero results

Question 8

What is a 'feed' in apps like social media or video platforms?

Accepted Answer

A scrolling stream of content the app shows you automatically

Answer

A bowl of food for your pet

Answer

A type of internet cable

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A password reset screen

Question 9

What is a recommendation algorithm, in simple terms?

Accepted Answer

Rules that predict and suggest content you might like

Answer

A program that blocks all videos

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A tool that only shows ads

Answer

A random number generator with no purpose

Question 10

How does a feed 'learn' what to show you?

Accepted Answer

From your past actions like likes, watch time, and skips

Answer

By reading your mind directly

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By asking your teacher

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Only from the date and time

Question 11

What is meant by 'personalized' results or feeds?

Accepted Answer

Content tailored to you, so different people see different things

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The same exact results for everyone

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Results chosen only by alphabetical order

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Content that never changes

Question 12

What is a 'filter bubble' and why can it be a problem?

Accepted Answer

When you mostly see content matching existing views, missing other perspectives

Answer

When your internet is too slow

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When a website has too many ads

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When you forget your password

Question 13

Why might the same Google-style search give two friends different results?

Accepted Answer

Their location, history, and settings differ, so ranking differs

Answer

Search engines pick results completely at random

Answer

One friend has a faster keyboard

Answer

The internet shows everyone different facts on purpose

Question 14

What is the difference between 'organic' search results and 'ads' on a results page?

Accepted Answer

Organic results are earned by relevance; ads are paid placements

Answer

They are exactly the same thing

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Organic results are always wrong

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Ads are free and organic results cost money

Question 15

How do search engines help fight spam or low-quality web pages?

Accepted Answer

They detect tricks like keyword stuffing and lower those pages

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They show spam first to be fair

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They cannot tell good and bad pages apart

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They delete the whole internet

Question 16

What is 'autocomplete' (search suggestions) and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

Predicted search phrases based on common and past searches

Answer

A spell-checker that fixes your essays

Answer

A way to delete your searches

Answer

A tool that translates languages only

Question 17

Why is the order of search results important for the websites that appear?

Accepted Answer

Higher results get most clicks, so order affects website traffic

Answer

Order has no effect on visitors

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Lower results are always clicked more

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All results get exactly equal clicks

Question 18

What does SEO (Search Engine Optimization) mean?

Accepted Answer

Improving a website so it ranks higher in search results

Answer

A way to hack search engines

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A type of internet browser

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A social media app

Question 19

How is a search engine like a librarian who has already read every book?

Accepted Answer

Both pre-organize information so they can answer requests quickly

Answer

Both read the answer aloud only

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Neither stores any information

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Both refuse to help with questions

Question 20

What is 'engagement' and why do many feeds try to maximize it?

Accepted Answer

How much you interact; feeds maximize it for time and ad revenue

Answer

How fast your phone charges

Answer

The number of apps installed

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How polite the comments are

Question 21

Why should you check more than one source for an important search result?

Accepted Answer

A single page can be wrong, so checking several confirms accuracy

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Top results are always perfectly correct

Answer

Checking sources wastes the internet

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More sources always means more wrong answers

Question 22

What is 'click-through rate' (CTR) and how can feeds use it?

Accepted Answer

The share of viewers who click an item, used as a relevance signal

Answer

The speed of your internet connection

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The number of words in a title

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The cost of clicking a link

Question 23

How do search engines handle pages written in different languages?

Accepted Answer

They detect language and show results matching your settings

Answer

They ignore all non-English pages

Answer

They translate every page into code

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They only work in one language worldwide

Question 24

What is a simple way to describe how 'PageRank'-style link counting helps ranking?

Accepted Answer

Links act like votes, so well-linked pages rank higher

Answer

Pages with no links always win

Answer

Counting links is illegal

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Links only change a page's color

Question 25

Look at the code. What does this dictionary represent in a tiny search index?

Accepted Answer

An inverted index mapping words to the pages that contain them

Answer

A list of website passwords

Answer

A ranking of users by age

Answer

A random shuffle of letters

Question 26

In the code shown, why is looking up index['dog'] faster than checking every page?

Accepted Answer

The index gives the answer directly without scanning all pages

Answer

Dictionaries are always wrong

Answer

It actually reads every page anyway

Answer

Looking it up deletes the other pages

Question 27

What does it mean for a search engine to keep its index 'fresh', and why does it matter?

Accepted Answer

Re-crawling so results reflect recent changes, especially for news

Answer

Deleting the index every night

Answer

Freezing the index forever

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Only indexing pages once and never again

Question 28

Why might a brand-new website not show up in search results right away?

Accepted Answer

It must first be crawled and indexed before it can rank

Answer

New sites are banned for a year

Answer

Search engines hate new websites

Answer

Only paid sites are ever indexed

Question 29

What is 'clickbait', and how does it relate to how feeds rank content?

Accepted Answer

Misleading titles made to get clicks, which can game ranking signals

Answer

High-quality news that is always true

Answer

A type of fishing equipment

Answer

A button that closes ads

Question 30

How can your own choices, like the videos you watch fully, shape your future feed?

Accepted Answer

Your actions are learning examples that steer future recommendations

Answer

Your choices have zero effect on the feed

Answer

Only your age changes the feed

Answer

Feeds are identical no matter what you do

Test yourself