Search Tools Summary and Comparison

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Google www.google.com Yahoo! uk.search.yahoo.com search.yahoo.com Bing (formerly Live.com) www.bing.com Default search Usually all of your words but Google sometimes only looks for some of your terms All of your words All of your words Wild card or truncation No. Automatically stems words and looks for variations. No No Alternative terms or variations ~for synonym search e.g. ~aspartame Use the Boolean OR Use the Boolean OR Use the Boolean OR Suggests other search strategies and related terms Google Suggests as you type in your search terms. Suggests alternative searches as you type Related Searches on the results page depending on the type of search Phrases ".." e.g. "peak oil" ".." e.g. "peak oil" ".." e.g. "peak oil" Proximity Use the asterisk to stand in for one or more words in a phrase e.g. solar * panels AROUND(n) e.g. solar AROUND(2) panels No. NEAR:n e.g. solar NEAR:2 panels Google Yahoo! Bing Must include word Use "..." around words to force an exact match or search for a phrase (does not always work) Precede stop words with a plus sign (+) ".." around stop words Exclude pages with a word Precede words with a minus sign Precede words with a minus sign or use NOT Precede words with a minus sign or use NOT Boost importance of a term Repeat the term 2 or more times in your search. Repeat the term 2 or more times in your search. prefer: Word in URL inurl: allinurl: inurl: inurl: Word in title intitle: allintitle: intitle: intitle: Links to specified URL link: to find pages that link to a specific page e.g. link:rba.co.uk/sources link: looks for links to the specified page e.g. link:http://www.rba.co.uk/ linkdomain: looks for links to any page on the site e.g. linkdomain:rba.co.uk No Google Yahoo! Bing Similar pages related: No No Specify part of domain site: Advanced Search site: Advanced Search site: Advanced Search Limit by Web site site: Advanced Search site: Advanced Search site: Advanced Search Filetype or format Advanced Search or use filetype: PDF, DOC, RTF, XLS, PPT, PS, WPD, RSS, XML Advanced Search PDF, PS, DOC, XLS, PPT, XML, RSS or use originurlextension: filetype: Search by date Advanced Search or use the sidebar on your results page Advanced Search No Limit by language Advanced Search Advanced Search language: or use Advanced Search Limit by geography Country versions of Google Advanced Search or region: e.g. region:africa loc:followed by two letter country code or use Advanced Search Google Yahoo! Bing Boolean OR AND OR AND OR NOT Boolean operators can be nested using parentheses for more precise searching. Availability of Boolean is erratic. Cached copy Click on the cached link in the preview of the page iin the results list or search using cache: e.g. cache:www.rba.co.uk Click on the cached link next to the entry in the results list Click on the cached link in the preview of the page. Unique features Numeric range search e.g. DVD player $100..200 Synonym search (~) Additional search features under Show options on results page region: command region: followed by one of europe, asia, downunder, africa, centralamerica, northamerica, southamerica, mideast, southeastasia prefer: contains: for pages that have links to a particular document or file type

Important: Many country versions of Yahoo are now using the Bing database for their standard search and give the same results as Bing. Both Bing and Yahoo retain their own interfaces and commands.

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