The ultimate guide to advanced searching within Yahoo, Google and MSN

Search engines…gotta love ‘em, right? After all, they make life simpler by saving us hours of searching for information through various books, magazines, newspapers, media guides, etc. Yes, search engines have gifted us with more time for lethargy and laziness in front of flat screen computer monitors…but that’s another post all in itself.

Have you ever taken the time to really think about a search engine query? Is there an easy way to monitor links to your site through these queries? How advanced can searching really get? By the time you finish reading this page, you’ll know how Google, Yahoo and MSN have created shortcuts for their search engines and how to utilize these shortcuts to make easy searching even easier.

Let’s first take a look at Google, and their advanced search engine query commands;

Allintext: Google confines the search results to pages including all query terms you have specified in the text of your page. Example [allintext: sports entertainment lounge] would result only with pages in which those words appeared in the text.
Allinachor: Google confines the search results to pages including all query terms you specify in the anchor text on links to the page. Example [allinanchor: historic restaurants Italy] would only show pages in which the anchor text on links to the pages contained those specified words. Anchor text is the text on a page that is linked to another webpage or a different place on the current page.
Cache: If you add other words in your query, Google will highlight those words within the cached document. For instance, [cache: www.google.com web] will show the cached content with the word “web” highlighted. This function is also accessible by clicking on the “Cached” link on Google’s main results page. The query [cache:] will show the version of the webpage that Google has in its cache.
Link: Lists webpages that have links to the specified webpage, also known as Back Links. For instance, [link:www.google.com] will list webpages that have links pointing to the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the “link:” and the webpage URL. (Also an advanced search operator within MSN and Yahoo!)
Site: This will restrict your search results to the site or domain you specify. If you enter [peace site:gov] you will find pages about peace within the .gov domain. You can specify a domain with or without a period (.gov or gov are equal) (Also an advanced search operator within MSN and Yahoo!)
Allintitle: All results will contain all query terms you specify in the title. Example: [allintitle: sports trivia] will only pull documents containing the words “sports” and “trivia” in the title.
Allinurl: All specified terms within the URL. Example [allinurl: Google FAQ] will return only documents containing the words “Google” and “FAQ” in the URL, such as www.google.com/help/faq.html.
Author: Google will restrict your Google Groups results to include newsgroup articles by the author you specify. The author can be a full or partial name or email address. Here is an Example: [Pet Cemetery author: Steven King] will return articles that contain “Pet Cemetery” and “Steven King.”
Define: Shows definitions from pages on the web for the specified term. Example if you enter [define: football], the results will show only definitions for “football.” (Also an advanced search operator within Yahoo!)
Filetype: Results with names ending in the specified suffix you have typed. Example: [webpage evaluation checklist filetype:pdf] will return Adobe Acrobat PDF files that match the terms “webpage evaluation checklist.” (Also an advanced search operator within MSN and Yahoo!)
Group: Google restricts your Google Groups results to newsgroup articles from certain groups or sub areas. Example: [dream group:misc.adults.moderated] will return articles in the group misc.adults.moderated as well as the sub area misc.adults that contain the word “dream.”
Info: Provides information about the corresponding webpage. Example: [info: gothotel.com] will result with information about the national directory GotHotel.com homepage.
Insubject: Google restricts articles in Google Groups to those containing the terms you specify in the subject. Example [insubject:can’t sleep] will return any Google Group articles that contain the phrase “can’t sleep” in the subject.
Intext: This will pull results with documents containing your specific term in the text. For instance, [intext: phenomenon] will return documents that including the word “phenomenon” in the text. Putting intext: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting allintext: t the front of your query. Example: [intext:modern intext:artists], is the same as [allintext:modern artists]
Intitle: By doing this, you will be pulling documents containing your specific term in the title. Example: [spider bite intitle:symptoms], this will bring up documents that mention the word “symptoms” in their titles, and mention “spider bite” anywhere in the document (title or not). (Also an advanced search operator within MSN and Yahoo!)
Inurl: Pulls documents containing your specified term within the URL. Example: [inurl:print site:www.googleguide.com] searches for pages on Google Guide in which the URL contains the word “print.” It finds PDF files that are in the directory or folder named “print” on the Google Guide website. (Also an advanced search operator within MSN and Yahoo!)
Location: By placing location: within your search query, this will pull only articles from the location you specify will be returned. Example: [magazine location:Los Angeles], this will bring up articles that match the term “magazine” from sites in Los Angeles. (Also an advanced search operator within MSN)
Movie: Movie related information. This function is more of a random search operator, but still can be useful in its own way.
Phonebook: Grabs all U.S. white page listings for your selected query term. Example: [phonebook:Starbucks Riverside] will pull all phonebook listings of “Starbucks” in “Riverside.”
Rphonebook: This will pull U.S. residential white page listings for your specified keyword(s). Example: [rphonebook:Rachael Smith Los Angeles] will pull the phonebook listings for Rachael Smith in Los Angeles (city or state). Abbreviations like [ohrphonebook:Rachael Smith LA] also work.
Related: Placing this within the search query will list webpages that are similar to the ones you have specified. Example: [related:www.basketballnews.com] will list webpages that are similar to the Basketball News homepage.
Source: Pulls articles from the news source with the ID you specify. Example [darfur source: Los Angeles Times] will return articles with the word “Darfur” that appear in the Los Angeles Times. To find a news source ID, enter a query that includes a term and the names of the publication you are seeking.
Stocks: Google will interpret the rest of the query terms as NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, or mutual fund stock ticker symbols and will open a page showing stock information for the symbols you specify. Example: [stocks: ebay.o] will give you information about E-bay Inc.
Store: Google Product Search will pull information of the store ID you specify. Example: [dress shirts store: Nordstrom] will return listings that match the terms “dress” and “shirts” from the store Nordstrom.
Weather: Entering this and the city or location name, if recognized, will place the forecast at the top of the result pages. Your results will usually include links to sites with the weather conditions and forecast for that location. There is no need to include a colon after the word. Example: [weather Whittier CA], this will return the weather for Whittier, California and [weather+ zip code] will pull information regarding the weather for that specific zip code.

Let’s take a look at what Yahoo’s search operators. Ones that Google might not have:

Hostname: Allows you to find all documents from a particular host only. Example: [hostname: computers.yahoo.com]
Domain: Results with pages in a particular domain and all its sub domains if you search without www. Example: [domain: computers.yahoo.com]
Originurlextension: All pages from a specific filetype containing your specific keyword.
Orignurlpath: All pages that have the keyword inside their directory names. This is used to mainly analyze the directory names of your competitors.
Stem: Pages containing your specific keyword or keywords with different endings. This is used to analyze your competition’s use of stemming.
Linkdomain: Pages that link to a particular domain. (also an advanced search operator within MSN)

Yahoo has some additional features that you might like as well;

All of these words: This action will include all of the words that you specify within your search. Comparable to placing AND between your specified words, + in front of your specified word. Example: if you are looking for Brea Sports Bars. This will pull all pages with “all of these words” within them.
At least one of these words: Matches with either one or more of your specific words within their pages. This is just like placing OR between your specified words. Example: if you need to read up on either “hats or beanies.”
The exact phrase: Pages with the exact phrase that you have placed within your search box. This is just like placing quotes (“ ”) around a group of specific words. Example: if you are looking for a specific phrase to a movie: “I’m the king of the world!”
None of these words: This will limit pages from your search by not pulling pages that contain your specified words within them. This is just like placing NOT between your specific words or – before your specified words. Example: you are looking for information about baseball in the “all of these words” query, but baseball bats within the “none of these words” query.
Feature:acrobat + your specific keyword to find keywords and links to Adobe Acrobat files.
Feature:applet + your specific keyword for pages that contain your keyword and embedded Java applets.
Feature:activex + your specific keyword for your keyword and ActiveX controls or layouts.
Feature:audio + your specific keyword to find pages that contain your keyword and links to audio files.
Feature:flash + your specific keyword finds pages that contain your keyword and Flash files or links to Flash files.
Feature:form + your specific keyword will pull all pages that contain your keyword and use forms.
Feature:frame + your specific keyword shows pages that contain your keyword and use frames.
Feature:hompage + your specific keyword results contain your keyword and are seen as personal pages by using a title in their directory structure.
Feature:image + your specific keyword results with pages containing your keyword and gif, jpg and other image files.
Feature:javascript + your specific keyword results will contain your keyword and JavaScript.
Feature:index + your specific keyword pulls all pages that contain your keyword.
Feature:meta + your specific keyword shows pages containing your keyword and meta tags.
Feature:script + your specific keyword results containing your keyword and embedded scripts.
Feature:shockwave + your specific keyword pages that contain your keyword and links to or has embedded shockwave files.
Feature:table + your specific keyword pages containing your keyword and tables.
Feature:video + your specific keyword will pull all pages that contain your keyword and links to or embedded video files.
Feature:vrml + your specific keyword for pages that contain your keyword and links to VRML files.

There is also a “Shortcuts” section within Yahoo!, so if you are really interested in learning about all of your advanced searching options, this will help you in your quest for additional information.

Many people ask, “What is the difference between Yahoo’s Link: and LinkDomain: search commands?”

- Link: command that will find inbound links that link to a specific URL.

- LinkDomain: command that will find inbound links that link to a domain. What is expected is that an entire website would have more inbound links than a single webpage, hence the LinkDomain: command will be numerically greater than the Link: command.

See Google’s Advanced Search Operators above for additional search commands that are the same within Yahoo!

And finally, here are some Live Search advanced search operators:

Contains: Pages that have links to the file type that you specify. Example: [music contains: wma] will pull pages containing links to WMA.
IP: Will return all sites that are hosted by a specific IP address. The IP address must be a dotted quad address. Example: [IP: 123.45.678.901]
Language: Specified languages. Specify the language directly after the language:keyword. Example: [language:en] will allow you to see only webpages in English.
Prefer: Adds emphasis on either a word or another operator. Example: [baseball prefer: club]
Feed: Pulls RSS or Atom feeds on a website. Example: [site:www.latimes.com feed:www.latimes.com]
Hasfeed: Documents that withhold an RSS or Atom feed on a site.

See Google and Yahoo! Advanced Search Operators above for additional search commands that are the same in MSN.

After all that has been placed here, Search Operators are there to make our specific searches a little bit easier. So just remember, anything information you need to find, it is only an Advanced Search away!