Advanced Search
(no punctuation)
+ (plus sign)
Used before a word, a + means that the word must be in all search results.
+apple +juice ... all search results contain both 'apple' and 'juice.'
+apple macintosh ... all search results contain 'apple,' but results containing 'macintosh' are ranked higher.
Not using + or - before a word means that the word is optional, but search results that include it will be ranked higher than ones that do not.
- (minus sign)
Used before a word, a - means that the word must not be in any search results.Not using + or - before a word means that the word is optional, but search results that include it will be ranked higher than ones that do not.
+apple -macintosh ... all results contain 'apple' but not 'macintosh.'
> (greater than sign)
< (less than sign)Used before a word, a > will increase the contribution of the word to the ranking of search results.
Used before a word, a < will decrease the contribution of the word to the ranking of search results.
( ) (parentheses)
Used around two or more words, ( ) will allow for more specific searches.
+apple +(>pie ... 'apple' and 'pie,' or 'apple' and 'strudel' (in any order), but rank 'apple pie' higher than 'apple strudel.'
~ (tilde sign)
Used before a word, a ~ means that this word is less relevant. Search results including this word will be ranked lower than ones without it. Unlike the - , however, search results including this word are still displayed.
+apple ~macintosh ... all search results will contain 'apple,' but those also containing 'macintosh' are ranked lower.
* (asterisk)
Used at the end of a word, a * means that other words that begin with this word will be included in search results.apple* ... 'apple,' 'apples,' 'applesauce,' and 'applet.'
“ ” (double quotes)
Used around two or more words, “ ” means that only the exact words in exact order will be included in search results."some words" ... search results would contain 'some words of wisdom,' but not 'some noise words.'
