bare bones lesson 17: Yahoo!

 

 

---

---

DESCRIPTION:

Yahoo! Directory, was created by Stanford graduate students, Jerry Yang and David Filo, and was launched in 1994. It began life as a subject directory with an index of sites compiled into categories. However, in 2002, it made a shift from subject directory to subject directory/search engine by teaming with Google to produce crawler-based listings for its main results.  In 2004, it began using a search technology of its own that looks and acts very much like Google. While the Yahoo! Directory page has the inevitable busy, crowded appearance of directory pages, the Yahoo! Search page began by sporting a rather spare, clean look similar to that of Google. Now, however, it's beginning to get a little busier. The Advanced Search page also has a cleaner, less cluttered look and provides the searcher with a suite of advanced search options. 

SEARCHES IN:

• Own subject directory
• Web 

DEFAULTS TO:

OR

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Main Directory Page

• Provides box for Web searching on top of page
• Offers smorgasbord of links, as typical of directory pages

Main Search Page

• Searches the Web using its own search technology
• Supports (+) and (-) signs
• Supports double quotes (" ") for phrases
• Offers links to searching by Image, Video, Audio, Directory, Local, News, Shopping, etc.
• Offers links to email, breaking news headlines, and stock market updates

Advanced Search Page

• Supports Boolean-type searching with phrases, "all of these words," "exact phrase," "any of these words," and "none of these words"
• Supports field searching "any part of the page," "title," or "URL," using drop-down menus
• Allows user to specify page update ranges (anytime, or within past 3 months, 6 months or year)
• Supports site/domain searching with radio buttons
• Supports searching by file format
• Allows customized filtering option
• Supports searching by country
• Supports searching by language
• Allows setting results per page from 10 to 100
• Provides product web search options

OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS AND FEATURES:

• Links to Yahoo! News, for breaking news and headlines
• Links to topic and region-specific Yahoos!
• Supports automatic truncation, with wildcard (*)
• Maintains a stop word list; does not search for stop words unless typed as part of a phrase within quotation marks

---

ASSIGNMENT:

Go to the Yahoo! Directory page and select the subject heading "Games" from the list on the left-hand sidebar. Here you'll find all kinds of game options, from Arcade to Word games. You can select any category you like to see what's there.

That's how a subject directory works, helping you drill down to the level of specificity you want. Select the game of your choice. You may be able to preview it for free. Go play, and enjoy!
 

---

MSN Search                                              Graveyard

---

[Table of Contents] [Search Engines] [Metasearchers] [Subject Directories] [Gateways & Databases] [Evaluating Web Pages] [Search Strategies] [Search Tips] [Boolean Operators] [Field Searching] [Troubleshooting] [Ask] [Clusty] [Dogpile] [GigaBlast] [Google] [MSN Search] [Yahoo!] [Graveyard] [Final Exam] [Beyond Bones] [User Agreement]

Last updated by E. Chamberlain, Thursday September 07, 2006