The Q-card Collection For Search Engines

Advanced search query syntax and rules

If you know a bit about advanced searching, you will benefit greatly from using the Pandia Q-cards. We have made special pages for some of the major search engines and directories that sum up their features and search syntax. Examples show you how to formulate queries.

If you are a newcomer to advanced searching, take a look at our Goalgetter tutorial. It is short and easy and will give you the basics needed to get the information you need faster and more efficiently.

Google Q-card

  • Home page — www.google.com
  • Will search in… — Google search engine,  Open Directory,  Google Newsgroups Search (previously Deja.com)
  • Default search — AND
  • Case sensitive — No, [all letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case.]
  • Natural language queries — No
  • Spell check — No
  • Translates pages into another language — No
  • SYNTAX —  Google Search Basics
  • Find pages that have one or more of these words  — dog OR cat
  • Find pages that contain all these words — +dog +cat
  • Find pages that contain the first, but not the last, word — dog -cat
  • Find pages that contain the following exact phrase — "raining cats +and dogs" [Note that Google ignores "stop-words". Use the "+" sign to include stop words in your search. Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign. You can also include the "+" sign in phrase searches. You do not need the + before stop words in phrases enclosed in " ", however.]
  • Find pages that contain these words in near proximity of each other  — No
  • Include synonyms of the following word — ~food ~facts
  • Find pages that contain words that starts with the following letters — No, [Google searches for exactly the words that you enter in the search box. However, you may use an * to signify a word in an exact phrase enclosed in " ": "the raiders of the * ark"]
  • Nesting (Use of parentheses) — No
  • Find pages that have the following http-address (or parts of address) — allinurl:example -net, [find ALL the words you specify after it, within the URL of a webpage. inurl:Web searching find ANY of the words you specify after it in the URL]
  • Find pages under the following domain — site:sampledomain.com
  • Find pages with these words in the title — intitle:dog
  • Find pages that contain images with names that contains the following word — No
  • Find pages that contain links to the following address  — link:www.example.com
  • Find pages that contain the follwing word in the title —  allintitle:dog, [This query cannot be combined with a search for text in the Web page itself]
  • Find pages that contain the following text anywhere in the HTML-code — No
  • Find pages written in a particular language  — Use advanced menu
  • Find pages made in the following time period — Advanced search form.
  • Find documents in a particular format — "internet searching" filetype:pdf brings you Acrobat documents on Internet searching.
  • Find stock quotes — stocks:[ticker symbol]
  • Find US phonenumbers — rphonebook:[name] finds residential listings, bphonebook:[name] finds business listings
  • Find related pages — related:www.example.com will list web pages that are "similar" to a specified web page
  • Find info — info:www.example.com will present some information that Google has about that web page.
  • Find cached version of page — cache:www.example.com will give you the most recent version of the example.com home page indexed by Google
  • Exclude pages with adult content — safesearch:beautiful girls will give you information about the movie "Beautiful Girls", but will filter out all adult content.
  • Search databases — Enter a special "code word" and a number and Google will search the relevant database for you. (US Patent numbers    example search: patent 5123123, UPS tracking numbers    example search: 1Z9999W999999999 (no "code word" neede), FedEx tracking numbers    example search: fedex 999999999999, FAA airplane registration numbers    example search: n199ua (no "code word" needed), FCC equipment IDs    example search: fcc B4Z-34009-PIR)
  • Find US airport weather conditions — Type the airport's three letter code followed by the word "airport." For example, San Francisco International Airport updates can be found by searching for sfo airport.
  • Find this text in the subject field of newsgroup messages — insubject:chess

HotBot Q-card

  • Home page -- www.hotbot.com
  • Will search in… -- www, mailinglists, DirectHit, GoTo
  • Default search -- AND
  • Case sensitive -- Only in searches for persons and "interesting case" (e.g. mixed case such as NeXt)
  • Natural language queries -- Partly, Select "all the words" from the menu
  • Spell check -- No
  • Translates pages into another language -- No
  • SYNTAX -- Hotbot
  • Find pages that have one or more of these words -- dog OR cat or dog | cat [Set menu to "Boolean phrase" or use menu selecting "any of the words”]
  • Find pages that contain all these words -- +dog +cat or dog AND cat, or ,dog & cat [Set menu to "Boolean phrase" or use menu selecting "all of the words”]
  • Find pages that contain the first, but not the last, word -- dog NOT cat, or, dog -cat, or, dog ! cat [Set menu to "Boolean phrase" or use menu]
  • Find pages that contain the following exact phrase -- "raining cats and dogs" [Set menu to "Boolean phrase" or use menu]
  • Find pages that contain these words in near proximity of each other -- No
  • Find pages that contain words that starts with the following letters — dog*,  finds "dog", "dogs", "doghouse" etc., or d?g (for one and only one letter) finds "dig", "dog", "dug"
  • Nesting (Use of parentheses) -- Kennedy AND (Robert OR John) [finds all pages that contains the words Kennedy and Robert and all pages that contain the words Kennedy and John]
  • Find pages that have the following http-address (or parts of address) -- Domainwww.example.com Or use domain under "Supersearch"
  • Find pages under the following domain -- domain:com Or use domain under "Supersearch"
  • Find pages that contain images with names that contains the following word -- +feature:image or use menu
  • Find pages that contain links to the following address -- Linkdomain:example.com [Restricts searches to pages containing links to this domain (not complete address)]
  • Find pages that contain the follwing word in the title -- title:dog or use menu
  • Find pages that contain the following text anywhere in the HTML-code -- No
  • Find pages written in a particular language -- No
  • Find pages made in the following time period -- After:[day]/[month]/[year] or Before:[day]/[month]/[year] Or use menu
  • Find this newsgroup -- No
  • Find this text in the subject field of newsgroup messages -- No
  • Find messages that are written by the following -- No
  • Find messages that are dated… -- No

Yahoo Q-card

  • Home page -- search.yahoo.com
  • Will search in… -- Yahoo Search Engine
  • Default search --  AND
  • Case sensitive --  No
  • Natural language queries --  No
  • Spell check --  No
  • Translates pages into another language --  No
  • Find pages that have one or more of these words -- dog cat or dog OR cat
  • Find pages that contain all these words -- +dog +cat [Yahoo! dropped support for Boolean AND in 2008. However, AND is default for multiterm queries.]
  • Find pages that contain the first, but not the last, word -- dog -cat [Yahoo! dropped support for NOT in 2008. Use the minus sign above.]
  • Find pages that contain the following exact phrase -- "raining cats and dogs"
  • Find pages that contain these words in near proximity of each other --  No
  • Find pages that contain words that starts with the following letters -- dog*, finds "dog", "dogs", "doghouse" etc.
  • Nesting (Use of parentheses) --  No
  • Find pages that have the following http-address (or parts of address) -- url:dog
  • Find pages under the following domain --  site:.com
  • Find pages with http-addresses that contain the following word -- inurl:dog
  • Find pages that contain links to the following address -- All links to one page link:http://autos.yahoo.com/index.html
  • Links to an entire site: linkdomain:www.example.com
  • Find pages that contain the follwing word in the title -- intitle:dog
  • Find pages that contain the following text anywhere in the HTML-code --  No
  • Find pages written in a particular language --  No
  • Find pages made in the following time period  -- or use advanced menu US/UK/AuNZ/Asia/Canada
  • FIELD SEARCH USENET NEWSGROUPS -- Yahoo USA
  • Find this newsgroup -- No
  • Find this text in the subject field of newsgroup messages -- No
  • Find messages that are written by the following --  No
  • Find messages that are dated… --  No

Yahoo search shortcuts

Yahoo also provides socalled shortcuts that let you limit your search to one particular database or information source, e.g. dictionary definitions or airport information. Example search queries in italics.

  • Airport Information -- ohare airport
  • Aircraft Registration Information (US FAA Registration number) -- N2451F
  • Dictionary Definitions -- define hirsute
  • Encyclopedia Lookup -- caterpillar facts
  • Flight Tracker -- united 63F
  • Hotel Finder -- las vegas hotels
  • ISBN Numbers (price comparison books) -- 764507621
  • US Maps -- 701 first ave sunnyvale ca
  • News headlines -- news election
  • Package Tracking -- For UPS orders, enter the tracking code., For FedEx shipments, search on "fedex" Metasearch the tracking number. For USPS tracking numbers, search on "usps" Metasearch, the tracking code.
  • US Patents -- patent 6269361
  • Sports Scores (US baseball, basketball, hockey, or football teams) -- yankees scores
  • US Stock Quotes -- quote yhoo
  • Synonym Finder -- synonym apex
  • Traffic Reports -- dallas traffic
  • US UPC Manufacturer Bar Codes -- 71641815056
  • US Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) -- ZFFYT53A510122724
  • Weather -- weather boston
  • US Yellow Pages -- starbucks sunnyvale ca

Alta Vista Simple Search Q-card

Open Alta Vista simple search form in separate frame or in separate window.

Please note that you will have to use a different syntax when using Alta Vista Advanced Search. Open Q-card for Alta Vista Advanced Search.

In March 2004 the AltaVista search engine was discontinued. The AltaVista site is now powered by the Yahoo! Search Engine. Some of the features listed below may not be working at the moment.

  • Home page -- www.altavista.com
  • Will search in… www, Looksmart Directory, Overture pay-per-click text ads
  • Default search -- AND
  • Case sensitive -- Yes, [Words and phrases in quotes are case-sensitive. Hence in order to search for uncommon spellings, enclose the word/term in double quotation marks: "eXtra”] All lower-case matches everything.
  • Items not in quotes are not case sensitive
  • Natural language queries -- Yes
  • Spell check -- English
  • Translates pages into another language -- Yes,  cp. Babelfish.
  • SYNTAX -- Alta Vista Simple Search
  • Find pages that have one or more of these words -- dog OR cat
  • Find pages that contain all these words -- +dog +cat (only in simple search),  dog AND cat
  • Find pages that contain the first, but not the last, word -- dog -cat  (only in simple search),  dog AND NOT cat
  • Find pages that contain the following exact phrase -- "raining cats and dogs”, Alta Vista has automatic phrase detection: a large set of commonly used phrases that will be interpreted as such even if you do not use " --" , 1-800-555-1212 Dashes link numbers together as a phrase
  • Find pages that contain these words in near proximity of each other  -- dog NEAR cat (within 10 words of each other)
  • Find pages that contain words that start with the following letters -- dog* ,  finds "dog", "dogs", "doghouse" etc.
  • Nesting (Use of parentheses) -- (cats AND dogs) OR pets
  • Find pages that have the following http-address (or parts of address) -- url:example, or (if you are looking for a specific computer) ,  host:example.com
  • Find pages under the following domain  -- domain:com (only top level domains or country letter code)
  • Find pages that contain images with names that contains the following word -- image:lassie.gif
  • Find pages that contain links to the following address -- link:www.example.com
  • Find pages that contain the following word in the title -- title:dog
  • Find pages that contain the following text anywhere in the HTML-code -- No
  • Find pages written in a particular language -- Use advanced menu.

Note: This is an archived article of q-card section. First published on November 2000. Published by Per and Susanne Koch.