Advanced search is a type of search that has additional features supported by the search engine. It is usually optionally present in certain search engines, programs, tools, online services, etc. In some online services, advanced search is only allowed when the user pays.
A simple search usually consists of a text box for a simple string of characters, while advanced searches usually have multiple text boxes, check boxes and other form elements that allow us to refine the search of interest. It is about applying filters that allows us to obtain more exact results.
For example, an advanced search in an internet browser could contain the choice of filters by document (image, text, video, etc.), by the language of the document, by the rights of use, etc.
In the image below we have the well-known Google search engine in its two versions. The simple version, with a text box that allows us to search for a text string and its most basic options. Below is the advanced version that allows us to refine by country, language, publication date, order of relevance, etc.
Another example is searches in online services to meet couples, the basic search is usually the sex, age and location of the person you are looking for. On the other hand, the advanced search usually has other characteristics to make the search more exact, such as zodiac sign, preferences, physical appearances, etc.
The most advanced and specialized searches can be achieved in vertical search engines, since these types of search engines concentrate on specific areas, fields or niches.
Advanced search using operators
In internet search engines it is possible to carry out more advanced searches using the so-called operators or wildcards or symbols. They are special characters that can be used in the search string that allows you to further filter the results. Some typical characters that can be used in a search engine are (we rely on the Google search engine for this list):
Symbol + Find pages of the Google+ service
Examples: +Chrome or Alegsa+
@ symbol Search for tags in multiple social networks.
Example: @party
Symbol $ Search for a product.
Example: nikon $400
Symbol # Search for popular hashtags on the hottest topics.
Example: #niunamenos
Symbol – Allows a search to NOT show a certain word within the web page and even remove an entire website from the search results.
In this case we do not want Wikipedia to appear.
Example 1: technology definition -site:wikipedia.org
In this case we want to know the speed of jaguar, the animal, not the car.
Example 2: jaguar speed -auto
Symbol » (quotation marks) is used when we want to search for a phrase or word exactly as it appears: the same order or with misspellings or however that phrase or word appears.
Example 1: «An ideal world»
Symbol * is a placeholder for a word the user doesn’t know and might want to find out.
Example: «he who gets up early * helps him»
The .. symbol allows you to separate numbers with a colon without spaces to see results that contain numbers in a given range.
Example: camera USD 50..USD 100
Specific advanced searches
Here are some popular search engine tools and services with multiple options for advanced searches:
– Advanced Google search
– Advanced eBay search
– Advanced search on Wikipedia
– Amazon advanced search
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