In Search Of...

By
31 August 2001 07:02 PM
Tags: search, query, result, site

AOL.com

It's not the tools that count but how you use them. And though the AOL.com search engine may provide a full toolbox with dozens of ways to refine queries sharply and without expert insight, it yields very poor results. Unless you can afford to take considerable time with each query, you're better off searching elsewhere. Quick or casual keyword searches are likely to end in frustration. For defining search terms, there are myriad options. Using the ADJ operator, you can search for keywords adjacent to each other. With the W/N operator, you can search for keywords within a certain distance of each other. With the "!" concept operator, you are supposed to be able to search for sites that deal with a keyword but may or may not actually contain it. Unfortunately, our tests found no difference between strings with or without the "!" operator. At any rate, the page describing how to use these terms is buried deep within the site.

AOL.com's most serious weakness appears when entering a few keywords or a natural-language search. For our search on Euro and our natural-language question "What does wap stand for?", not one of the top ten results was relevant.

AOL.com

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Talkback 1 comments

    Matilda Keith -- 04/01/06 (in reply to #120126443)

    The Correct address for Matilda is
    http://www.matildasearch.com
    Is theee any chance you coulds replace your content with a simple link?
    Keith

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