Search engines: seek and ye shall find? The position of search engines in law

In the electronic world, the ways of receiving and imparting information have
changed beyond all recognition because of the ease in sharing information
over the Internet. We can scarcely begin to conceive the gigantic amount
of information put there at our disposal by private and public suppliers.
It is even more impossible to monitor where all this information comes from
or how it is being sorted and selected by those who make it available to us.
Luckily, we are not left alone to dig out the particular piece of news that interests
us nor do we lack a system that lists items of potential interest - as library
catalogues once were able to do.
Search Engines are the librarians of the Internet. They are the magic little helpers
of the electronic information supply. Once the computer is switched on, using a
search engine may even be faster than consulting any catalogue, encyclopedia
or dictionary, even if they sat on the shelf next to us. Additionally, the use
of the search engine is likely to yield many more results, simply because
the storage place on the web outdoes many times that of any shelf.
What are search engines really? How, if at all, are they regulated? Why would they
come under regulation? How do they compare to other technological means that
we use in the process of asking for and receiving information electronically?