In a distributed computer system, such as the World Wide Web portion of the Internet, a first computer requests to a second computer remote from the first computer to search information of at least one entity. The first computer indicates to a search agent associated with the second computer at least one search criterion for the search. The search agent accesses at least one database remote from the first and second computers that stores information of a number of entities, including the at least one entity. The at least one entity is less than all of the plurality of entities with information in the at least one database. A search based on the at least one search criterion is performed by the search agent only on the portion of the database related to the at least one entity. In one embodiment, the first computer is associated with a buyer, the second computer allows access to a Web site of a merchant offering goods and/or services for sale, and the portion of the database relevant to the merchant stores an electronic catalog of the goods and/or services of the merchant.