Surface web

Updated: 04/26/2017 by Computer Hope
visible web

The surface web (also known as the visible web, indexable web, or Clearnet) is content on the World Wide Web that is indexed by popular search engines.

How is the surface web created?

Search engines construct a database of pages on the Internet through programs called web spiders. The spider receives a copy of each page and catalogues it, keeping the appropriate information for quick retrieval later. When a new page is linked, it is eventually inspected by the spiders and added to the list of reachable pages; the surface Web.

Any pages that cannot be found in the surface web manner are part of what is called the deep web.

Database, Internet terms, Search engine, Web