January 21, 2003: AlltheWeb has added full Boolean searching from the advanced search page. After selecting the "boolean expression" drop down option, you can now use and, or, andnot, and parentheses for nesting. In addition, they have introduced a 'rank' operator, language detection, and new search tools.

First of all, the full Boolean searching with all three operators and nesting is a welcome addition. But it takes a bit to find where to use it. You have to use the Advanced Search and then select "boolean expression" from the drop down menu. Note that the NOT operation uses 'andnot' with no space. The old +, -, and the parentheses for an OR do not work when "boolean expression" is chosen, and the Boolean operators will not work unless it is, so be careful. The 'rank' operator also only works with "boolean expression" chosen and is supposed to boost results that contain the specific keywork. So a search such as term1 or term2 rank term3 should change the ranking so that those records with term3 score higher, although it is still not required. But the 'rank' operator sometimes does strange things, so be wary of the results.

AlltheWeb now tries to identify searchers based on their IP address. It will then default to the main language or languages of that country plus English. This will appear on the simple search form as the default language limit with an "Any Language" option as well to the left. To change the default, just click on the language to go directly the language section of the preferences pages.

AlltheWeb also introduced a variety of quick links, bookmark shortcuts, and search options for Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, and Mac OS / Sherlock from their Search Tools page. You can use these tricks to search AlltheWeb directly from the address box, by highlighting a term on a Web page and then clicking a bookmark, and more search shortcuts.

See their query language and their press release for details about many of the changes. Search Engine Feature Chart, Search Engines by Feature Page, and the AlltheWeb Review have all been updated.

Subject(s): AlltheWeb ; Site Updates