What is the function of Metasearch Engines?

Metasearch engines serve the specific purpose of aggregating results from multiple search engines and displaying them to the user in a unified format. By doing this, they aim to provide a comprehensive view of available information while minimizing duplication of results. This means that when you perform a search, a metasearch engine will query various other search engines or databases and then filter the results to present only unique entries or those that are deemed most relevant.

The other options do not accurately describe the core function of metasearch engines. For instance, providing ads based on user searches relates more to traditional search engines that monetize their services through advertising. Organizing websites into categories is a characteristic more aligned with directory services rather than metasearch engines, which focus on pulling results from various sources. Lastly, displaying results as paid advertisements is also a feature of standard search engines that utilize pay-per-click models, which is not the primary operation of metasearch engines.