Over the past few years, online pharmacies have become a preferable alternative to the community drugstores. The increased degree of convenience and safety has made them an instant favorite among the consumers. However, the growth of online pharmacy business led some unscrupulous people in launching illegal websites offering below par products and services. Most patients are often lured by their tall claims and end up getting cheated by these pharmacies. The growing number of such illegal Internet pharmacies has made it difficult for the patients to track down the legitimate ones where they can place their orders. Though all legal pharmacies are licensed and approved by an external authoritative body and generally have a link on their website in support of that, it is practically a cumbersome process for the patients to scrutinize each and every pharmacy website to get a proof of their legitimacy. Under such a scenario, a pharmacy search engine can prove to be an indispensable tool for the patients.

A pharmacy search engine offers an interface with a search box in it. The users need to type in the drug name in that search box and click on the search button to get a list of pharmacies dealing in that specific drug. Pharmacy/ Medicine search engines maintain a database that includes all legal and authorized pharmacies operating over the Internet and discounts all the illegal ones. On entering a drug name in the search box, the search engine checks its database and compiles a list of all the Internet pharmacies dealing in that drug. It then returns a list of such pharmacies to users along with the prices offered by them.

The usage of a medicine search engine may look similar to that of the traditional search engines like Google or Yahoo. The difference is in the generated results for a search query. On a specific drug query, the traditional search engines may or may not return a result set comprising of online pharmacies. Moreover, patients can never be sure of the credibility of the pharmacies listed in the result sets, as some professionals specializing in search engine algorithms can push their positions right at the top. Pharmacy search engines, on the other hand will return more specific results showcasing various licensed online pharmacies dealing in such a drug. Such results even give an overview of the current stock status, discounts applicable and prices charged by the listed pharmacies. The patients just need to scroll through the results to find the pharmacy that complies with their requirement. A single click of the mouse on the selected result either directs them to the pharmacy website or allows them to place the order directly from the website offering such a search service.

serve as common platform for both the pharmacists as well as the patients. It is a media through which the online pharmacies can showcase their products vis-à-vis the other pharmacies. The patients on the other hand are assured of the credibility of the pharmacies that are returned as a result set for a specific drug query.