19. A method of protecting information in search queries using a search apparatus with a user interface that is configured for connection to a computer network, said network comprising a plurality of search engines on a plurality of servers, said method comprising: receiving a search query comprising a plurality of keywords; dividing the search query into a number of sub-queries, each sub-query comprising at least one of said keywords but less than all of said keywords; comparing each sub-query to an inhibited combinations list that includes a number of keywords from the search query; excluding sub-queries that are identified as inhibited combinations; submitting remaining sub-queries to different search engines such that each search engine receives less than all of said plurality of keywords such that private information from the search query is less discernible at any one of said search engines than if that search engine received more of said plurality of keywords of said search query; and generating an integrated search results based on a rank of hits included in individual search results returned from the different search engines in response to the submission of said sub-queries, in which hits that share rank are sorted based on a number of priority rules; and searching the integrated search results.
22. The method of claim 19 , further comprising calculating a co-occurrence probability for the keywords of each sub-query and excluding from use as a sub-query any combination of keywords having a co-occurrence probability below a threshold.