Web search frustrations and strategies.

[Dr. Bob]

In another thread I am asking for help finding a File Compare utility. I have been looking but the search results give a lot of unwanted 'clutter'.

Making effective use of search engines is not merely a skill but it is also becoming an art.

When you were researching which motherboard to buy a few years ago and you typed a brand name, model number and the word 'review' you got useful results. Now every web shop 'invites' you to write a review (which nobody does except with the really big ones like Amazon) and you end up with thousands of useless results. And if you are looking for some relatively simple freeware utility adding the word 'freeware' won't help you much in finding what you are looking for.

I'm sure I am not the only one getting frustrated by such phenomena.

I was wondering what searching strategies people are using to get around these problems and get more relevant results.

[liam858]

I posted this Google Guide: http://www.shortcourses.com/sharing/google.htm in this thread: http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=196177 (The thread never really took off, but it sprung to mind)


Liam

[fink]

If I'm having problems getting only results from sites that sell what I'm trying to research I often use this meta search engine..

http://www.queryserver.com/web.htm

which uses a number of engines that tend to not pick so many retail/sales webpages.

I also add a word or short phrase to the search that probably won't be on a sales site but still directly related to the item. For example if I'm looking for a speedtouch modem I'll search for speedtouch 516 owners manual or Speedtouch 516 mtu settings.