Final answer:
The main advantage of using a meta search engine is to conduct a comprehensive search across multiple engines, providing broader and more varied search results. Users must navigate search engines strategically, as ranking is not solely based on accuracy or relevance. The SIFT methodology can assist in evaluating search result credibility.
Step-by-step explanation:
The main advantage of using a meta search engine is C) Comprehensive search across multiple engines. A meta search engine allows you to run a keyword search on various search engines at the same time, consolidating the search results into a single list. This provides a broader range of search results, pulling in data from multiple sources all at once, which can be particularly useful for comprehensive research or for finding information that might be more obscure or not as prominently indexed on a single search engine. It's important to note, however, that the search engines themselves do not necessarily rank results by authority, accuracy, or relevance, and may prioritize paid advertisements, popularity, and web interconnectivity.
Moreover, since the emergence of search engines in 2003, they have become integral to obtaining information quickly and have been trailblazers in the development of digital software that dominates mobile devices. As users, mastering search engine usage involves learning to navigate these algorithms and making use of strategic approaches like the SIFT methodology. SIFT stands for Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims, quotes and media to the original context, which helps in evaluating the credibility of search results.