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Sophisticated search made easy

AltaVista Advanced Web search allows you to create specific queries that instruct AltaVista to return more precise results. You can use either the query builder or the free-form Boolean box to find the Web pages you want.

Query builder
You can easily create powerful queries by entering words into a combination of these text boxes. Here is what each box does:

all of these words:Documents must contain all of the words you list here.

this exact phrase:Documents must contain these exact words in the order you typed them.

any of these words:Documents must contain at least one of the words you list here.

none of these words:Documents that contain these words will be omitted from your results.

Free-form Boolean query

This box allows expert searchers to enter complex queries using special search terms.

The words you type into the All, Phrase, Any, None and Boolean boxes tell AltaVista which pages to retrieve from its Web index. The Sort By box tells AltaVista how to rank the results. Pages containing your Sort By words will be listed highest.

You can enter a word or words from your search, or you can enter a different word. If you leave the Sort By box empty, AltaVista uses your other search terms to rank your results.

Language

This menu allows you to receive results in any one of 36 languages. This menu is available only when Family Filter is turned off.

Date

This feature enables you to find Web pages that were created or modified in a time range that you can specify. Please keep in mind that some Web servers do not provide accurate modification dates for the pages they host.

  • Select a time range from the menu or
  • Type a date range into the from/to boxes.
Location

This tool gives you the ability to:
  • Select a world region from the menu,
  • Type in a domain (list of domain and country codes)
  • Search within a site. Just type in the top-level URL. (Example: www.cnn.com)
Display

Site Collapse:When site collapse is on (check box is checked), AltaVista shows a maximum of two results per site. When site collapse is off, AltaVista shows all results, listed in order of relevance, with results from the same site indented below the first result from the site.

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